Soner CagaptayVerified account

2. It takes two to tango, and many issues have split the Turkish government and U.S. military since 2002, from the 2003 Iraq War to the war in Syria. Yet, shifting views of #Turkey within the U.S. military, especially inside #CENTCOM, can have long-term ramifications for #Ankara

3. Today, sadly many in CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s wing responsible for fighting in the Middle East, do not view #Turkey favorably. #CENTCOM is the “fighting command” within the U.S. military, which means its officers will constitute leadership of U.S. military in coming year

4. The U.S. military’s key decision makers in the coming decades will not necessarily be friendly towards Ankara. What is more, while #EUCOM, which has dealt with Ankara for decades, has developed a deep understanding of PKK- and YPG-related dynamics and Turkey. #CENTCOM has not

5. Beginning with the Siege of Kobane in 2014, some in #CENTCOM have developed a benign, and sometimes simplistic, but certainly sympathetic view of the #YPG, which I could summarize as, “Muslims, whose men drink beer and whose women fight”

6. This opinion, coupled with sacrifices made by the #YPG against #ISIS, has even culminated in some #CENTCOM officials speaking favorably towards the #YPG in public, drawing ire from #Turkey

7. Inadvertently, and sadly for #Ankara and #Washington, recent events have re-crafted the U.S. military’s historic perception of Turkey -–from a EUCOM, #NATO ally, to a “#CENTCOM obstructionist” and "menacing threat to 'America’s Kurdish brothers-in-arms' ”

8. In the big picture in order to salvage its historic tie with Ankara, Washington needs to devise a clear and bold strategy that addresses Ankara’s deep security concerns over America’s relationship with the #YPG, including by bringing #CENTCOM on board in this regard