US Airdrops in Syria May Strain US-Turkish Relations
Oct. 20, 2014 - 09:57AM | By PAUL McLEARY
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141020/DEFREG04/310200017/US-Airdrops-Syria-May-Strain-US-Turkish-Relations

WASHINGTON — On Sunday night two US Air Force C-130s flew into Syria without
fighter escort to deliver 27 bundles of weapons, ammunition and supplies to
Kurdish fighters in the besieged town of Kobani, Syria, which has been
holding out against fighters from the radical Islamic State (IS) group.

In a twist, US officials said the supplies were provided by Kurdish
authorities in Iraq.

“This was Kurdish arms, Kurdish ammunition,” insisted a senior
administration official on Sunday night, adding that Washington saw the
drops as “an opportunity to strike blows against ISIL … when we see
opportunities to hit ISIL we’ll take them.”

US forces have conducted more than 135 airstrikes against IS in the area
around Kobani over the past week, claiming to have killed hundreds of IS
fighters in the process, but have not been able to break the stalemate
between the attacking forces and the Kurdish fighters holding the town,
which sits up against the Turkish border.

There’s little chance that the operation will sit well with Turkish
authorities, who have long battled with fighters from the Kurdistan Workers
Party, whom the Turkish government claims is fighting in Kobani.

Earlier in the day on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
will continue to refuse to arm the Kurdish fighters across the border in
Syria, warning that “it would be very, very wrong to expect” Turkey “to
openly say ‘yes’ to our NATO ally America giving this kind of support. To
expect something like this from us is impossible.”

US President Barack Obama spoke with Erdogan earlier in the day Sunday, and
the leaders “pledged to continue to work closely together to strengthen
cooperation against ISIL,” according to a release from the White House, but
officials would not elaborate on what the leaders had to say about the
American air drops.

Retired US Marine Gen. John Allen and his team from DoD and the State
Department recently held a series of meetings in Ankara with Turkish
officials about the country taking a more active role in the military
campaign in Syria, and Turkey already has agreed to train and equip a number
of Syrian rebel forces.

Allen, however, speaking at the State Department on Oct. 15, refused to
confirm reports that Turkey had agreed to allow the use of Incirlik Air Base
for US strikes into Syria.

But American officials, publicly at least, continue to remain relatively
upbeat. The administration official said Sunday night that “combined with
the activities on the ground we believe the strikes … have slowed ISIL’s
advance into” Kobani.

Email: pmcleary@defensenews.com.