Turkey and US reach compromise

?Knowing what you?ve got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can do without. That?s inventory control.?

This sentence was uttered by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie ?Revolutionary Road.? 

The recent negotiations between Turkey and the U.S. regarding Syria reminded me of this phrase. The two countries know very well what the problem is and what they need to solve it. Yet, they disagree on what they can do without. While Turkey insists on doing without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the U.S. has still not totally given up on him.

In my interview with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu two weeks ago, he declared the train-and-equip program had started in Turkey. Accordingly, 300 Syrian rebels arrived in Turkey on May 9 and their training started the following week.

Right after this acknowledgement, Çavu?o?lu said last week that the trained and equipped rebels would need to enter Syria ?through a secure area? and that they need to be provided with aerial protection. He also made the remark that Turkey and the U.S. agreed ?in principle? on supporting the rebels by air.

There is actually only one piece of news in this recent statement: That the countries agreed ?in principle? on air protection.

Ankara has been asking for the establishment of a safe zone in Syria since the very beginning of the Syria conflict and wants the trained and equipped rebels to be deployed in this area. It insists that these rebels would fight against both the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Assad?s forces while U.S. jets patrol this area.

Yet, the U.S. would prefer these rebels fight only against ISIL and avoid any clash with the regime. Hence the foundation of a safe zone gets locked into the question,...