Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone on November 1, the same day that reports emerged that the American-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had announced a pause in their campaign against so-called Islamic State in Syria after clashes with Turkish forces.

No mention of that specific issue was made in a cursory statement put out by Erdogan’s office about the call. The office simply stated that Erdogan and Trump spoke about bilateral and regional issues, including latest developments in Syrian locations including Manbij and Idlib. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders confirmed the call, saying the two leaders discussed a desire to work together, especially with regard to Syria. Resolving the crisis with Saudi Arabia over who gave the order for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in early October is another matter of pressing concern to both presidents.

The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria has conducted scores of air and artillery strikes in recent weeks, seeking to force the terrorist group militants out of their last stronghold east of the Euphrates River. Islamic State has been driven to just a few towns in the area and the US and its coalition allies conducted 184 air and artillery strikes last week targeting the terror group's last remaining territory, striking command and control centres, weapons caches and vehicles, according to a CNN website report published on November 1.

Major blow
The halting of the operation by the approximately 50,000-strong Kurdish and Arab SDF—armed by the US but disliked by Ankara which fears its Kurdish elements pose a terrorist and separatist threat to Turkey—is a major blow for the US and its allies. It occurred after Turkey threatened a new military operation targeting the SDF.

Pentagon spokesman Commander Sean Robertson told the US news outlet on October 30 that Washington was encouraging "all parties to avoid escalation and focus on the most important task of defeating ISIS [Islamic State]". He added that "the campaign against ISIS is not over and the fight remains very difficult."

"We are aware of Turkish statements about a planned offensive into northeast Syria and have been in touch with Turkey and the SDF to de-escalate the situation," Robertson also reportedly said, further remarking that the US military was "working closely with the SDF who are in the midst of offensive operations against ISIS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley".

"Turkish attacks in the north and ISIS attacks in the south against our troops had forced us to stop our current operation temporarily against ISIS in the last pocket of it," the SDF said in a statement.

"We also call the international community to condemn the Turkish provocations in the safe areas in Syria, and we demand our partners in the International Coalition to show a clear attitude and stop Turkey from launching attacks on the region," the statement added.

Joint patrols
The call between Erdogan and Trump took place at a time when Turkish and American troops on November 1 began their first round of joint patrols in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, which is under the control of the Kurdish militia YPG, a group affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by both Turkey and the US.

On October 28, the Turkish military hit PKK/YPG positions in the Zor Magar region east of the Euphrates River, while on October 30 they hit the town of Tal Abyad.

A day later, at least 10 YPG members were killed after Turkish forces fired howitzer shells across the border into Syria’s Ayn al-Arab region.

Prospects of improving ties between the US and Turkey—which are also at odds over Nato member Turkey’s plans to acquire the Russian S-400 advanced missile defence system—rose on October 12 after a Turkish court freed US pastor Andrew Brunson from two years of detention on charges the White House claimed were trumped up.

Still unknown is how much leverage Erdogan has over Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in efforts to settle the Khashoggi scandal. Saudi Arabia is the US’ major Persian Gulf ally and Bin Salman is playing a key role in Trump’s attempts to throttle the Iranian economy to force concessions from Tehran on its role in Middle East affairs.