Turkey Demands US Oust ‘Pro-Kurd’ Envoy McGurk

McCain: US Should 'Throw Their Ambassador the Hell Out'

by Jason Ditz,

Turkey’s displeasure at US policy in the ISIS war, and particularly at their lack of hostility toward the region’s Kurds, continues apace today, with Turkey demanding the US fire Brett McGurk, the special ambassador in charge of the ISIS war, on the grounds that he is “pro-Kurd.”

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said McGurk, who was initially an Obama appointee, was “definitely supporting the Kurds,” insisting that US-Turkey relations would be improved by his removal from the position. He claimed McGurk was secretly in league with the YPG and by extension the PKK.

The Trump Administration hasn’t responded to the demand for an ouster, but McGurk’s position appears in-line with the rest of the administration on arming the Kurdish YPG and using them against ISIS. Turkey has long objected to this, but it is unusual for them to try to single out a specific target like this.

McGurk isn’t the only ambassador in this relationship potentially in trouble, Sen. John McCain (R – AZ) is demanding the US throw Turkey’s Ambassador “the hell out of the United States of America” after security working for Turkey’s president attacked American protesters.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/05/18/turkey-demands-us-oust-pro-kurd-envoy-mcgurk/