Can the US provide autonomy for Kurds in Syria?

The rift between Turkey and its biggest military ally the U.S. is continuing over two major issues. One is the ongoing activities of Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-resident Islamist preacher accused of being behind the military coup attempt of July 15, 2016. The other is Washington's decision to collaborate in Syria with the People's Protection Units (YPG) as the ground force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

 The YPG is considered the Syria extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been involved in a three-decade fight against NATO member Turkey and is also designated as a terrorist group by the U.S.

In an Aug. 1 statement, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised the efforts of President Donald Trump's anti-ISIL coalition envoy Brett McGurk, despite Turkish protests against McGurk's statements on July 29 accusing Turkey of turning a blind eye to al-Qaeda members using the Turkish border to cross into Syria, particularly to the town of Idlib, as well as sending tens of thousands of arms there, which is not helping U.S. efforts. In the same statement, Tillerson also praised U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass for his efforts to keep relations with Turkey on track against all odds. 

He has a point there, but that is not the main issue. The main issue is the U.S.'s strategy in Syria to defeat ISIL not by not sending GI Joes but by using the PKK militia as a ground force through the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and coordinated by McGurk.

As one of the world's most resilient illegal organizations, the PKK - which was established in 1978 as a Marxist-Leninist organization aiming to carve a Kurdish state out of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria - has agreed to mobilize all of its forces to...