The US support for the Syrian Kurdish groups will likely remain a major problem between Ankara and Washington as the Syria leg of a high-level US delegation's recent Middle East tour signals. 

A US delegation that included Acting Assistant Secretary Joey Hood, Deputy Envoy for Syria David Brownstein and White House National Security Council Director for Iraq and Syria Zehra Bell traveled to northeast Syria on May 16-17, meeting officials from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Syrian Democratic Council, as well as prominent tribal leaders from the northeastern Syrian province of Raqqa. The visit seemed to be aimed at staving off the destabilizing elements in the region as the Biden administration is shaping its foreign policy moves in the Middle East.

The delegation’s trip marks the first high-level visit by the US State Department to northeast Syria — also known as Rojava. The nature of the talks was also different, according to a Syrian Kurdish source familiar with the meetings.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, the source said unlike previous contacts between the two sides, the Americans haven’t reiterated Washington’s demand for the Syrian Kurdish groups to cut off their ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed group that has fought Ankara since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States. Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the SDF — a terrorist group linked to the PKK. According to the source, in response to the US envoys’ question in regard to Kurdish conditions for a possible dialogue between Ankara and the Kurds, the Kurdish officials reiterated their demand for withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the region. The sides discussed also the possibility of US troop withdrawal from the region and what kind of support could be provided for the Kurds in addition to the air support in the event of a possible withdrawal.