A top aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted yesterday that United States commandos in northern Syria could be targeted by Turkish rockets if they continue to work with Kurdish fighters along the border with Turkey.
The comments by Ilnur Cevik, a senior political advisor to Erdogan, came the same day the President sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss plans for "safe zones" meant to stop the violence in Syria.
And they come two weeks before Erdogan visits Washington for his first meeting with President Donald Trump.
If the Kurds and Americans continue to work together, Cevik said during a radio interview, "we won't be considering the fact that there are armoured American vehicles ... All of a sudden, by accident, a few rockets can hit them".
The veiled threats for a Nato ally to potentially use force against US troops highlight just how risky and complicated US intervention in the Syrian civil war has become, and could further sour relations between Washington and Ankara that have already been strained following a failed coup last year in Turkey.
