The United States will continue to work with Turkey to achieve common interests in Syria, said Ned Price, State Department spokesman.

Responding to a question on whether the Biden administration will cooperate with Turkey on the issues of security and humanitarian in Syria, Ned Price said that Washinton has common interests with its Turkish partners.

"We have shared interests with Turkey, specifically when it comes to Syria. We will continue to work with Turkey, and to work constructively with Turkey to achieve our common interests, when it comes to Syria, going forward," said Price.

Despite Turkish and the US armed forces have been working together in Syria, there are still serious problems between Ankara and Washington on some issues of Syria that need to be solved. The US does not yet refrain from standing behind YPG and other Kurdish terrorist groups in Syria, as well as there are disputes between two countries over S-400 missiles. In this case, it isn’t possible for Turkey and the United States to engage in cooperation on the solution of serious issues in Syria.

Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Ümit Nazmi Hazır, a Turkish expert on Eurasia and Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, has made brief comments on the US-Turkey cooperation in Syria.

Turkish expert initially noted that it is very difficult to see a common understanding between the US and Turkey on Syria and other various issues in the next future.

“Turkey’s relations with the USA will not be easy in the era of Biden. I think Turkey’s relations with the USA under the Biden administration will be much more difficult and problematic than the Trump era of Turkey-US relations. Due to the fact that between Turkey and the USA, there are many unresolved problems such as S-400, YPG and others. The US can push Turkey to find a solution to the problem of S-400 missiles and change Turkey’s policy towards YPG. Biden’s attitude towards Turkey might be more harsh and uncompromising,” he said.

“Therefore, Turkey would attempt to compromise with the USA in terms of S-400 missiles. However, I think Turkey would not change its position in terms of the YPG issue. Because it is Turkey’s red line in Syria,” he added.

Nazmi Hazir also believed that the Biden administration has no intention to respect the interests of Turkey in Syria.

According to him, it is impossible for two states to share a common position on the strategic and security matters in Syria.

“Turkey and the USA have different interests and priorities in Syria. The establishment of a Kurdish state in Syria is not acceptable for Turkey. Moreover, Turkey considers the YPG terrorist organization as a big threat. On the other hand, the USA would continue support for YGP in Syria.  President Biden, before being elected, stated that the USA must maintain support for YPG. Therefore, the YPG issue seems one of the biggest obstacles for the cooperation of Turkey and the USA in Syria and other fields,” he said.

Furthermore, Turkish expert touched upon another important point that Ankara should continue negotiations with Moscow on the Syrian issue.

“Turkey should continue to negotiate with Russia to solve various problems in Syria. Because Ankara is aware that it is necessary to keep good relations with Russia in order to have more manoeuvre in the region,” he added.

Eurasia Diary