ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US deputy special envoy to the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on Tuesday said that Washington is determined to continue to develop its anti-terrorism cooperation with Ankara despite “areas of disagreement” with Turkey. Ian McCary told Rudaw's Diyar Kurda during an online press briefing that the US sees Turkey as a “very important” member of the global coalition. “We have very close engagement and communication with our Turkish counterparts on all issues, and there are areas – there’s a great deal of overlap and common ground with our Turkish partners, and there are some areas of disagreement as well, but we’re determined to continue to develop our counterterrorism cooperation with the Turkish government,” he stated. ISIS seized control of vast swathes of land on both sides of the border in 2014 and was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019. While the group no longer controls any territory, it continues to pose a serious security risk through bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions. Consisting of 84 nations, the US-led Coalition’s mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is the coalition’s main ally on the ground in Syria but Turkey considers its backbone, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a terrorist organization. Ankara frequently bombards the SDF positions in northeast Syria (Rojava) and has repeatedly called on the US to halt its support for the force.
