Russia and Turkey: Approaches to Regional Security in the Middle East

... crisis and the increasing rift between Washington and Ankara with regard to the approaches of the two countries in fighting DAESH. Turkey, for one, was unhappy with the U.S. support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are dominated by the YPG (People’s Protection Units), the armed wing of the PYD (Democratic Union Party)- both, as Ankara stresses, affiliated with the PKK. The YPG gained control of major border towns in northern Syria after the withdrawal of the government forces [ 19 ...