US terminates secret drone programme with Turkey: US officials
The United States has suspended a secretive military intelligence cooperation programme with Turkey in response to its cross-border incursion into Syria, according to four American officials.
Turkey launched a military operation in northeast Syria in October, saying the move was aimed at removing US-backed Kurdish forces, which Ankara views as terrorists, from the border area.
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The US decision to terminate the secret programme is an indication of the damage to ties between the Nato allies from the incident last year.
The US officials, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the secretive intelligence collection mission was used by Ankara to target Kurdish PKK militants for years.
Both Turkey and the United States classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation.
US military carried out the missions using unarmed drone aircraft, which one official said were flown out of Turkey's Incirlik air base, where the US military has a significant presence. The base is also a key hub for US spy agencies operating in the region.
The US drone flights that took place within the programme, in place since 2007, often zeroed in on mountainous territory in northern Iraq near the Turkish border, according to another official.
A Pentagon spokeswoman did not directly comment on any specific programmes but noted that the United States has designated the PKK a terrorist organisation since 1997.
“We have supported Turkey in their fight against the PKK in many ways for decades. As a matter of policy, we do not provide details on operational matters,” the spokeswoman said.
Turkish defence officials did not respond to a request for comment, but a Turkish official confirmed the programme was stopped.
The suspension of the programme will increase the pressure on Turkey’s military at a time when its forces are already stretched on multiple fronts in northern Syria.
"This makes the anti-PKK campaign more difficult and more costly for Turkey," one of the four US officials said.
Ankara and Washington have had a tumultuous relationship in recent months with tensions rising on Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defences and broader splits over the war in Syria.
"In recent years, Turkey has not been struggling to obtain the information it needs through drones it produces itself," the Turkish official said. "However, as an ally the steps taken on this issue do not contribute to ties between the two countries."
US President Donald Trump has long been sceptical of his country’s military involvement in Syria and in October last decided to withdraw US troops from northern Syria.
The move, seen as a major shift in US policy, was widely criticised by Democrats and some Republicans for abandoning US-backed Kurdish fighters in the face of a Turkish offensive.
The Turkish offensive in Syria took aim at Kurdish YPG militia who had been Washington's top allies in the battle against Islamic State.
Turkey views the YPG as a terrorist organisation, indistinguishable from the PKK. But American policy has long drawn a bright line between the two groups, helping Turkey combat the PKK even as US military forces simultaneously partnered with the YPG militia to combat Islamic State.
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