Turkey: US Sends New Weapons to YPG

  • 12/10/2017
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US sent new weapons and military vehicles to Peoples Protection Units (YPG), according to Turkish media outlets. Several Turkish media outlets revealed that the new weapons, including armored vehicles, were transferred through Hasakah and entered from northern Iraq to the Kurdish militias. Recently, Ankara announced that President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan President Trump discussed over the phone the strategic partnership between the two countries, particularly in combating terrorism in all its forms and fostering regional stability. On Syria, Trump pledged that the US will stop supplying Kurdish forces with any weapons. “Consistent with our previous policy, President Trump also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqa is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return,” the White House statement said. However, the Pentagon announced that: "While the nature of US support to partner forces will adjust as the coalition shifts from major urban combat operations to stabilization tasks, US support will not end until the enduring defeat of ISIS and will be determined by conditions on the ground.” This prompted wide-ranged criticism in Ankara accusing US institutions of distorting Trump’s promise. Ankara considers Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military wing YPG, a part of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned in Turkey, US and EU as a “terrorist group”. Meanwhile, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported reliable sources saying that a convoy of several Turkish army vehicles crossed the border between the brigade "Iskenderon" and the area of Kaferlussin in Idlib countryside. The army entered the Syrian territory and headed to Afrin. The entry of the Turkish military vehicles as part of the agreement reached mid-September to establish control points in the de-escalation ares in Idlib. In related news, Supreme Council of Syrian Tribes will hold its first general conference on Sunday in Istanbul with the participation of representatives of over 60 tribes. Council chairman Rafei Aqla al-Rajou told Anadolu Agency that the conference will include representatives of all Syrian, Arab, Turkman, Kurds, Christians, Druze and Armenians tribes, as well as revolutionary and opposition figures. Rajou pointed out that conference will last for three with the participation of delegations from Syria, Turkey and a number of other countries. He stressed that the main objective of the conference is to consolidate the ranks to eliminate Kurdish Democratic Union Party, and overthrow Assad regime and sectarian militias fighting alongside. The attendees will also discuss the establishment of a national army includes all tribes. Rajou explained that a general secretariat will be elected by the conference to oversee future events, as well as legal, political and military committees. The Supreme Council of Syrian Tribes was established earlier this year, in Sanliurfa province, south of Turkey, and held several meetings in Urfa and Ankara in preparation for the conference. In March, 50 Syrian tribes agreed to establish “Army of the Island and Euphrates” to liberate their areas under the control of the Democratic Union Party and ISIS. Last November, the Supreme Council refused to attend the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, Russia. The conference was scheduled for November and postponed to next February because several Syrian opposition factions and Turkey refused to attend it. Turkey conditioned its participation with the non-attendance of the Democratic Union Party. The conference will coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ankara on Monday, during which he will discuss with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holding the Syrian National Dialogue Congress.

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