Erdogan calls on Washington to stop supporting the Kurds and Trump praises him

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in Washington on Wednesday that he had asked US President Donald Trump to stop supporting the YPG.

Ankara considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization, but it is the backbone of the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces," the main US partner in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

"Turkey and the United States can work together to eliminate the Islamic State and bring peace to Syria, the most effective US partner in the region to do the job is Turkey," Erdogan said.

US President Donald Trump has overcome tensions in his country's relations with Turkey, declaring that he is a "big fan" of the Turkish president.

On the day Congress held the first impeachment proceedings live on US television, Trump spent several hours at the White House with Erdogan, claiming he was not paying attention to his domestic crisis.

"Instead, I prefer to focus more on peace in the Middle East," Trump told a joint news conference with the Turkish president, describing the isolation measures as a "hoax" and a "joke."

Resolve differences
After Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops deployed at border points in northeastern Syria, Ankara launched a military attack on the SDF on October 9. Trump then sent an unusual message to presidents, saying: "Don't be hard, don't." You are not a fool. "

Initial reports said that Erdogan not only ignored the letter, but also threw it in the trash, and said yesterday that he used the visit to return the letter to its owner.

Faced with a wave of harsh criticism against him - including his allies - Trump later toughened the tone, threatened to "destroy" the Turkish economy and ordered sanctions against Turkey, but retracted them after reaching an agreement on Syria in mid-October.

But abandoning the Kurdish allies and leaving a vacuum in Syria filled by Russia has angered many members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans.

On the Russian S400 missile issue, the White House said the United States should resolve disputes over Turkey's purchase of Russia's air defense system in order to make progress on other fronts.

"In order to make progress on other fronts, it is necessary to resolve the differences over Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system to strengthen our defense partnership," the White House said in a statement.