Trump, Erdogan work toward finding Syria consensus

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Turkey's president to the White House for their first face-to-face meeting Tuesday, even as Turkish officials fumed over a U.S. decision to arm the Syrian Kurds.

• Leaving Turkey's president empty-handed: Nil Kksal

Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are expected to address the Syrian civil war, the refugee crisis and the fight against the group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Welcoming Erdogan, Trump said in a prepared statement the two countries "seek to face this threat together."

"The Turkish people have faced horrible terrorist acts, in recent years and even recently," he said. "We offer our compassion to the victims and we offer our support to the Turkish nation."

Shortly after Erdogan arrived in Washington, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told his party members that U.S. co-operation with Syrian Kurds "is not something acceptable" for Turkey.

Turkey is determined to "root out terror," Yildirim said, if "necessary guarantees for Turkey's sensitivities and issues pertaining to Turkey's security are still not given."

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to respond to the crisis in Syria, taking unprecedented action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government over its use of chemical weapons against civilians.

• International community denounces chemical attack

But with Iran and Russia working to bolster Assad's government, the Trump administration is turning to regional allies, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt for help as it crafts its Syria policy.

Complicating that effort, however, was an announcement by the Trump administration that it plans to arm Kurdish Syrian fighters in the fight against the Islamic State group. Turkey has been pressuring the U.S. to drop support for the Kurdish militants in Syria for years and doesn't want them spearheading the Raqqa effort.

• U.S. to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria
• Tillerson, Turkish leaders struggle to resolve dispute

Turkey believes they're linked to a Turkish Kurdish group, known as the PKK, which the U.S., the European Union and Turkey all consider a terrorist organization.

Trump said the U.S. supports Turkey in "the fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the PKK."

Trump's deal-making skills will be put to the test as he works to assure Erdogan that the decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria will not result in weapons falling into the wrong hands.

The meeting is considered high stakes for the nascent Trump administration as it looks to engage regional allies in delicate security matters while enforcing international standards for human rights.

Trump's willingness to partner with authoritarian rulers and overlook their shortcomings on democracy and human rights has alarmed U.S. lawmakers of both parties. That puts added pressure on him to get results.

Trump congratulations

Trump has gone out of his way to foster a good relationship with Erdogan. After a national referendum last month that strengthened Erdogan's presidential powers, European leaders and rights advocates criticized Turkey for moving closer toward autocratic rule, while Trump congratulated Erdogan.

"I think we are going to enjoy some further gains in terms of the future of our relations," Erdogan said through an interpreter, referring to trade, energy and defence industry initiatives.

But Erdogan may not be amenable to accepting the U.S. military support for the fighters known as the YPG in a quid pro quo. Last month, the Turkish military bombed Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, in one case with American forces only about 10 kilometres away. His government has insisted it may attack Syrian Kurdish fighters again. The U.S., whose forces are sometimes embedded with the Kurds, has much to fear.

Erdogan said in his opening remarks alongside Trump an alliance between the U.S. and YPG "will never be accepted."

Washington is also concerned by rising anti-Americanism in Turkey that Erdogan's government has tolerated since the July coup attempt. The U.S. also has pressed unsuccessfully for the release of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor, and other detained U.S. citizens.