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The Takeaway: December 11, 2019

Ankara buys oil from sworn enemy, but keeps leverage; Assad would talk to Erdogan; Iran’s Reformists expect to lose big to hard-liners; Jordan hosts Global Masters e-sport tournament; and more!

Smoke rises from an oil field in Al-Rmelan, Qamshli province November 11, 2013. With a string of military gains across northeastern Syria, a Kurdish militia is solidifying a geographic and political presence in the war-torn country, posing a dilemma for regional powers. Long oppressed under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father before him, Kurds view the civil war as an opportunity to gain the kind of autonomy enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq. Picture taken November 11, 2013.  REUT
Smoke rises from an oil field in Al-Rmeilan, Qamshli province, Syria, Nov. 11, 2013 — Reuters
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Three quick takes:
 
 
 
 

1. Erdogan will shut down oil purchases from Syrian Kurds

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the invasion of Syria on Oct. 9 to wipe out the perceived “terrorist” threat from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the Syrian Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

 

For Erdogan, the YPG, linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — which both Washington and Ankara consider a terrorist group — is more of a threat than the Islamic State (IS). The US, however, doesn’t see the YPG and the PKK as one and the same, and has worked closely with the SDF to combat IS.

 

That makes it surprising to discover, as Al-Monitor did, that Turkey is buying Syrian oil from the YPG.

 

Amberin Zaman follows the money and has the scoop.

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