Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his Egyptian counterpart today (4/2) in another move by Turkey to expand communication channels in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. After the meeting, the Turkish Foreign Minister held a press conference in which he also referred to Ankara’s next steps in Syria. Specifically, Hakan Fidan responding to a reporter’s question on whether Ankara will strengthen its military presence in the country noted that this is under consideration as Ankara wants the final elimination of ISIS cells still operating in the region.

The Turkish foreign minister noted: “Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan are currently in discussions regarding this issue and we must all unite against ISIS.” The Turkish diplomatic chief also stressed that the Kurds are an obstacle to Turkish plans as “they have under their control places where ISI members and their families are held but they do nothing else. This is a key problem in our planning.”

Turkey through Hakan Fidan once again made an open appeal to US President Donald Trump to immediately give the green light for operations in the Syrian territories, calling it an “open wound that must be closed as soon as possible“. It is worth noting that Turkey, despite the remarkable reflexes and speed with which it moved in the first weeks after the fall of the Assad regime, with members of the Ankara government immediately siding with Al-Sara’a and making visits to Damascus, since Trump’s inauguration has reduced its public interventions in anticipation of Washington’s moves.

The Kurds at the same time hope that Donald Trump will choose not to withdraw the approximately 2,000 American commandos deployed in northeastern Syria as in such a case Turkey will try to take advantage and attack with greater ferocity in that zone.