US to continue arming PKK/YPG despite Trump’s pledge
Despite a pledge by U.S. President Donald Trump to his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a phone call on Friday to stop providing weapons to the People’s Protection Units (YPG), Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning told reporters on Monday that Washington would continue to support and arm the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The YPG is the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD), and dominates the SDF.
Col. Manning said that the U.S. Defense Department was “reviewing pending adjustments to the military support provided” to the PKK/YPG.
The pentagon spokesman stated that the measure of halting military support to the group was not implemented.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Monday said that weapons provided by the U.S. to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated People’s Protection Units (YPG) must be collected.Following a telephone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Friday, Trump said that Washington would not give weapons to the PKK/PYD terror group anymore.“The call marked a turning point in strained relations between the two countries, but Washington must honor a pledge to end weapons provisions to the terrorists,” Bozdağ said.US pledges to end arming PKK/PYD terroristsThe YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed.Bozdağ said the United States would be deceiving the world if it did not halt the weapons supplies to the PKK/YPG.Over 4,000 trucks of ammunition, hundreds of armored vehicles and weapons were sent to the PKK/PYD by the U.S.Erdoğan-Trump discussionThe White House said on Friday that Trump said that he had informed Erdoğan that Washington was “adjusting” military support to partners on the ground in Syria.Before his call with Erdoğan, Trump tweeted about the U.S. presence in the Middle East saying: “What a mistake, in lives and dollars (6 trillion), to be there in the first place!”President Erdoğan shared a photograph taken during the call his on Twitter account. It was seen that the call was conducted in his study of the Presidential Palace complex. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, National Intelligence Organization Undersecretary Hakan Fidan, Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın, Chief of Cabinet Hasan Doğan and Senior Advisor Hamdi Kılıç were photographed.PM Yıldırım: US must end partnership with PKK/PYDUS wants to use Zarrab case to impose sanctions on AnkaraBozdağ said that the U.S. wanted to use the trial in New York of a Turkish gold trader to impose sanctions on Ankara. Bozdağ stated that the U.S. had pressured the trader, Reza Zarrab, to sign off on accusations against Turkey."They may have told Zarrab, 'Either you will remain in prison until you die, or you will sign under what we tell you,' and they threatened him with retributions to sign off on accusations," Bozdağ said.'The US interfered with Turkish trade relations'
US must collect weapons distributed to PKK/YPG: Deputy PM
“Weapons provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which include Kurdish elements of the SDF, would be limited, mission specific, and provided incrementally to achieve our objectives,” Col. Manning said.
In a Friday phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump “clearly stated that weapons will not be given to the YPG anymore and said that essentially this nonsense should have been ended before," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Friday.
While recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group, the U.S. has treated the PKK/PYD/YPG as an ally using Daesh as a pretext, despite its PKK ties as documented by Turkey.
Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in clear terms that it was "wrong" to supply weapons to the PKK/YPG, the Turkish prime minister has confirmed.Binali Yıldırım's comments came during an interview with BBC World."Mr. Trump understood what is important for Turkey," Yıldırım said, in reference to Trump's pledge to Erdoğan in a Friday phone call on ending the supply of arms to the terrorist PKK/PYD and PKK/YPG in Syria."They [the U.S.] said this [cooperation with YPG or PYD] is not a choice. This is a necessity… Ok. We understand, although we do not accept. It is a temporary relation. Now, it is time to finish because Daesh is already defeated," the premier said."So, President Trump said it is wrong to provide weapons. This is clearly mentioned."Stating that Turkish policy on fighting against Daesh had been quite "clear" since the beginning, Yıldırım said it was important to "choose the right partner" to fight Daesh."You are not able to fight a terror organization using another terror organization," he added.The U.S. later said it is "reviewing pending adjustments to the military support provided to our Kurdish partners in as much as the military requirements of our defeat-ISIS and stabilization efforts will allow to prevent ISIS from returning," referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, another name for Daesh."We have always been clear with Turkey that the weapons provided to the SDF, to include its Kurdish elements, would be limited, mission-specific and provided incrementally to achieve military objectives," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told Anadolu Agency. He said the U.S. would "continue our partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces to complete the military defeat of ISIS".Pentagon says will continue arming PKK/YPGAt the White House, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said even though a complete defeat of Daesh is in sight, "that doesn’t mean stopping all support of those individual groups"."Once we started winning the campaign against ISIS, the plan and part of the process is to always wind down support for certain groups," she said. "Now that we're continuing to crush the physical caliphate, we're in a position to stop providing military equipment to certain groups."No doubt about Gulen's links to coup bidIn response to a question whether Turkey had submitted evidence to Washington showing Fetullah Gülen, the U.S-based leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), had links to last year's defeated coup attempt, Yıldırım said the necessary documents had been submitted."For us, it is obvious. We have no hesitation. We have no doubt about it," he said, referring to Gulen's role in the defeated coup bid.FETÖ and Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 250 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.FETÖ is also behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.Yıldırım also answered a question on accusations about the detentions since the defeated coup attempt."This kind of accusation is there. I accept. But those who are accusing us should think about what happened on July 15," he said."Our parliament building [was] bombed. And their bombs killed 250 innocent people and [left] 2,194 heavily injured. What can we do then? We have to find [those] who committed crime. This is the situation in Turkey," Yıldırım said."We don’t detain people without evidence. This is for sure," he said, adding the rule of law prevailed in Turkey.The Turkish premier called on Turkey's critics to show "empathy" instead."Did you face this kind of thing? If you face this kind of thing, then we will see what you are going to do," he said.Yıldırım also dismissed accusations that Erdoğan had been becoming an "authoritarian" leader."Erdoğan is not deciding who is going to jail or who is going to [be] freed. The court is deciding," he said, adding there was freedom of the press in Turkey."We have a free press," he said. "Even the pro-PKK paper is published."Video: Turkish PM meets with British foreign secretary
Turkish PM: Trump says wrong to provide arms to YPG
The deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said on Monday that the U.S. will need Turkey’s backing for staying in Syria after Daesh is defeated in the region.Speaking to journalists in the parliament, Ozturk Yilmaz called on the U.S. to cooperate with Turkey ahead of the Syrian peace talks in Geneva.“The U.S. will need Turkey and Turkey’s backing for staying in Syria after Daesh,” said Yilmaz.He added that this could lead to diffusing of tensions between the two countries.US must collect weapons distributed to PKK/YPG: Deputy PMThirty-six members of Syrian opposition’s High Negotiations Committee will attend the peace talks in Geneva this week.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi to discuss Syria, last week.During the meeting, the three leaders agreed to gather a congress of Syrian groups to advance a political solution for the war-torn nation.Ozturk Yilmaz recalled that Iran, the Bashar al-Assad regime and Hezbollah did not want the presence of the U.S. in Syria's future.Russian air strikes kill over 50 civilians in eastern SyriaHe added that only PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist group wants U.S. presence in Syria "which will not be at the solution table" in Geneva."For this reason, the U.S. needs a powerful regional partner, which is Turkey," said Yilmaz.Yilmaz also urged Turkey and the U.S. to take a joint step for the territorial integrity of Syria.The PYD and its military wing YPG are Syrian branches of the PKK terrorist network, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.While recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group, the U.S. has treated the PKK/PYD as an ally in its anti-Daesh efforts.Syrian child escapes death after playing with bombSyria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10 million displaced, according to claims by the UN.
'US needs Turkey's backing for presence in Syria'