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The deadly suicide bombing in northern Syria targeting US forces underscores the urgent need for closer military cooperation with Turkey to secure this troubled region, badysts said.
On Wednesday, four Americans were killed during the bomb blast in the city of Manbij, controlled by the US government. Units for the protection of the Kurdish people (YPG) militia. The aggression was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), which The American president Donald Trump recently claimed to have been defeated.
The bombing that took place as Washington began its military withdrawal from Syria, has marked the first US victims in the war-torn country since 2014.
US and Turkish officials have been waging war over Washington's support for the YPG and what will happen to its controlled areas in the north of the country after the US withdrawal.
Kilic Kanat, The research director of the SETA Foundation in Washington said the latest attack shows the need to transform the "fight against terrorism" through better cooperation between nation-state actors, adding that the fight was more linked to the territory.
"This shows that the United States and other countries need to move from short-sighted counterterrorism to Syria-based territory to long-term intelligence-led counterterrorism through co-operation. at the level of nation-states aimed at targeting the financing of terrorism, et cetera, "he told Al Jazeera.
"Therefore, it must be understood that the YPGs do not have the necessary instruments to lead this war in the current situation because the fight against ISIL is no longer a struggle based on the territory", he said. -he adds.
The US withdrawal from Syria was initially expected to be swift, but the timetable became ambiguous and some the conditions were fixed in the weeks following the announcement of the US President, including the security of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the anti-ISIL force led by the YPG.
US-backed SDF operations have played a role in the withdrawal of ISIL fighters from the vast majority of captured territories in Syria and Iraq since 2014 and Washington defended its alliance with the group during of those years.
However, Ankara considers the YPG and its political wing, the Party of the Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD), the "terrorist groups" linked to the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a war in Turkey since the 1980s in the goal of autonomy.
US demand for the safety of SDF fighters has been a source of tension between the two NATO allies, which has led Trump to threaten Ankara with economic devastation if it strikes SDF fighters.
The Manbij case
Another tension between the allies is a plan on Manbij, which, according to Ankara, is blocked by Washington.
Turkey has long been asking the SDF fighters to settle east of the Euphrates in Syria and to leave control of the city of Manbij to the Turkish army and opposition forces backed by Turkey.
Ankara threatens to conduct a military operation in the region and claims that an agreement was reached with the United States for the withdrawal of the SDF last year, but that Washington has still not completed .
Turkey has launched two military operations in northern Syria over the last three years, targeting YPG and ISIL.
"The agreement of Manbij has not yet been signed by Washington.In addition, Washington is acting vaguely on the withdrawal, changing statement all the time.These things upset Turkey and make Washington doubtful" said Muhittin Ataman, a professor at the Turkish University of Ankara, told Al Jazeera.
"All these uncertainties are causing Turkey to see the security zone in Syria recently put in place with suspicion," he said, adding that the recent attack testified to YPG's inability.
"Washington will have to respect and act on Turkey's sensitivities if it wants to cooperate with Ankara on ISIL and on broader issues related to the Syrian crisis," Ataman said.
The Turkish and American presidents have decided to set up a security zone inside Syria on the border with Turkey during a telephone conversation earlier this week, one of the many that took place recently.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan His country would establish the 32-km security zone in northern Syria along the Turkish-Syrian border, without giving further details about the project.
Kanat said recent telephone conversations between Trump and Erdogan helped dispel misunderstandings between the two countries.
"The many voices in Washington prevent officials in Ankara from understanding who is speaking on behalf of Trump or the administration. Turkey tries to take a stand on common problems, especially Syria, on direct conversations between Trump and Erdogan," he said.
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