He made clear that while the US sympathizes with Turkey’s concerns about border security, Washington wants the Turks to minimize their military action inside Syria. Mattis raised the matter with reporters after a full day of meetings with Indonesian government officials about ways of extending US-Indonesian military ties. The US has had a long but sometimes complicated relationship with the Indonesian military. Indonesia’s special forces were accused of major abuses through the 1990s in the provinces of Papua and Aceh and in East Timor, a former province that has gained independence. The US cut ties with the special forces under a 1997 law that banned US training for foreign military units accused of human rights violations.

Source: Hindustan Times January 23, 2018 12:00 UTC