After the US, Russia also pressing Turkey on the YPG

Turkey has been at odds with its biggest military ally the U.S. for some time over Washington's selection for a partner in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), or DAESH in Arabic initials. 

Ever since the Kobane clashes in 2014, the U.S. Central Command's pick has been the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The YPG has been operating as the U.S.'s ground force, as U.S. administrations do not want American soldiers to get killed in Middle East deserts any longer if there is a possible alternative. 

The problem is that in this case, the alternative is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a fight against Turkey for over last three decades, and which is also designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. 

Despite objections by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, neither former U.S. President Barack Obama nor incumbent President Donald Trump abandoned their choice of combat partners in the anti-ISIL campaign. That is one of the reasons why Turkey launched the Euphrates Shield Operation into Syria in August 2016, despite the trauma of the military coup attempt the month before.

It would not have been possible for Turkey to conduct that operation without the consent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the primary supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. After all, it would be impossible for Turkey to operate in Syria under possible attacks from the Russian and Syrian air forces.

Continuing its tight involvement with Russia on energy projects, and largely dependent on Russia for mass tourism, the Turkish government has tried to highlight Russia as a relatively friendly...