国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Turkey-U.S. ties in spotlight as Erdogan faces tough talks with Trump

ANKARA, May 15 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday will have his first face to face talks with President Donald Trump with a tough agenda as Ankara has set it stakes high particularly on the issue of Syria.

Trump was the only Western leader congratulating Erdogan after his victory at the constitutional referendum on April which granted broader executive powers to the Turkish presidency.

But ties between the Turkish government and the Trump administration have not evolved as Ankara desired since Washington indicated that Turkey's demands are unlikely to be met because the U.S. has firm position on its cooperation with the Kurdish fighters in Syria in its bid to drive the Islamic State (IS) out of the war-torn country.

Turkey and the U.S. have been at odds particularly on a couple of issues that held bilateral ties captured. Ankara wants Washington to end cooperating with the People's Protection Units (YPG) against the IS in Syria, saying they are Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Yet Washington falls on deaf ears on Turkey's concerns, especially over arming YPG fighters ahead of a major offensive to drive the IS from Raqqa town of Syria, although Ankara warns that those weapons could end up with the PKK members.

On the contrary, one week before Erdogan's visit to Washington, Trump has given his authorization for the direct arming of the YPG fighters in an apparent message that Pentagon will continue cooperating with local Kurdish fighters as U.S. proxy on the ground for upcoming Raqqa offensive.

The U.S. partner Syrian Kurdish dominated alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since two years and Washington sees these forces as the most capable anti-Islamic State force in northern Syria. The SDF are now closing in on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS.

Whereas the Turkish government has long been proposing its NATO ally for launching Raqqa operation with Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters and Erdogan is expected to raise the offer once more during his talks with Trump.

Last week, the Turkish president sent a high level delegation including chief of army, head of intelligence agency and his close adviser to Washington to lay grounds for his upcoming meeting with the U.S. president.

"They presented a lot of documents to help clear the U.S. stance on YPG. Now we will have the final meeting, and then we will make our final decision. If we are strategic partners, we should make decisions in an alliance. If the alliance will be overshadowed, then we will have to take care of ourselves," Erdogan told reporters in Beijing on May 14, two days before a scheduled meeting with Trump in Washington.

He blamed U.S. bureaucracy left from Obama administration for American insistence for relying on the Syrian Kurdish militia.

A second hot potato for the meeting at the White House is the Ankara's demand from the U.S. temporary arrest and extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the self-exiled Islamic cleric in Pennsylvania who is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding failed coup attempt on July 15.

President Erdogan is also expected to ask release of Reza Zarrab, the Turkish-Iranian businessman, and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the deputy general manager of the Turkish state owned Halk Bank, who are both on trial in the U.S. for violating sanctions on Iran.

Zarrap, who has both Iranian and Turkish citizenship, is accused of money laundering and breaching embargoes. The Turkish government asks Zarrab to be given to Turkey since he is a citizen.

Analysts are not hopeful for remarkable progress from the Erdogan-Trump meeting.

"All the signs are that this will not be an easy conversation. Ankara has set the stakes so high with regard to its demands that it has left itself very little room for diplomatic maneuvering," according to Semih Idiz, a columnist from Hurriyet Daily News.

"Washington, on the other hand, has made it amply clear that Turkey's demands are unlikely to be met because the U.S. has firm positions, or obstacles it can't overcome, that make it very hard to please Ankara," Idiz said.