Bloomberg – by Selcan Hacaoglu
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 Islamic State 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 Islamic State’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 return 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 0.9 percent to 3.5902 per dollar at 2:03 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. That includes small arms such as rifles and ammunition, armored vehicles, heavy machines guns, and construction equipment such as bulldozers, according to Pahon.
“We plan to track these weapons and equipment and do our best to get it back afterwards,” Pahon said. Once Raqqa is liberated, “we envision Syrian Arabs governing” the city, he said.
The move marks a “new low point” in U.S.-Turkish relations, according to Gonul Tol, director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
‘Trust Issue’
“This is creating a major trust issue between Ankara and Washington,” Tol said in an interview. “I would expect more unilateral action in northern Syria” by Turkey, while furthering empowering Turkish voices “who have been saying the U.S. is not a reliable partner and Turkey should turn to Russia instead.”
While Turkey is a member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Erdogan has drawn closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months. The country, which has NATO’s second-biggest military, has worked with Russia on a plan to establish safe zones in Syria.
Turkey drew rebukes from the U.S. State Department and Pentagon last month when its warplanes bombed Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq, including fighters who are U.S. allies. Those strikes “created further frustration in Washington,” which saw Turkey as slowing down the Raqqa operation, according to Tol of the Middle East Institute.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also weighed in on Wednesday, sayingthat weapons handed over to the YPG are threats to Turkey.
“There is no difference between YPG and PKK,” Cavusoglu said in a speech in Montenegro. “They are both terrorist organizations.”
“Turkey hopes the U.S. “will return from this mistake,” he said, reiterating that his government would foil any attempt at creating an autonomous region for the Kurds in Syria.”
HOW THE F%&K IS THAT ANY OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS???
Hope you get your jewb#tch #sses SLAMMED if you try it, SCUMBAGS!!!