‘US is backing terrorism by arming Syrian Kurds’

Bloomberg

Turkey objected strongly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to arm Kurdish forces in Syria, calling the plan unacceptable and amounting to support for terrorists.
“This issue is a matter of existence or nonexistence for Turkey,” Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli told AHaber television on Wednesday. “It is a matter of survival for Turkey. Everyone should see it this way. We can never accept or allow the existence of terrorist organizations that pose a threat to Turkey’s future.”
While the U.S. considers Syrian Kurdish forces as the most reliable ground force to fight IS in Syria, Turkey — a U.S. ally and NATO member — says they are linked to the Kurdish PKK group that has battled for autonomy in southeast Turkey for more than three decades. Mounting tensions could complicate efforts to retake IS’s self-declared capital of Raqqa. “You would not go into the same sack with a terrorist organization,” Canikli said, referring to the designation of the PKK by both Turkey and the U.S., as well as the European Union. Turkey hopes the U.S. “will turn back from this mistake,” he said, reiterating that his government would foil any attempt at creating an autonomous region for the Kurds in Syria.
Turkey’s lira slumped after reports of the decision, dropping more than 1 percent. It rebounded on Wednesday, strengthening 1 percent to 3.5862 per dollar at 4:30 p.m. in Istanbul.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, which include the Kurdish fighters, “are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Tuesday in an emailed statement.
The plan to arm the Kurdish militia, known as the YPG, has been conveyed to Turkey from “multiple levels in the U.S. government” and includes training and equipment “on a very limited basis” specifically for retaking Raqqa, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon said in an interview.