US might be 'deceiving' Turkey on Kurdish militants

The US says it will continue to support Kurdish militants in eastern Syria, contradicting Turkey's foreign minister who claimed President Donald Trump had promised that Washington would not further arm the group.

The US “continues to provide material support, training, advice and assistance to the SDF in their ongoing effort to defeat ISIS (Daesh) in Syria,” media reports on Monday quoted the US military saying. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday Trump had told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that weapons would not be given to the Kurdish militants. 

The White House said Trump informed Erdogan that Washington was adjusting the military support to partners on the ground in Syria, including the Kurdish YPG which spearheads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).  

Ankara has been infuriated by Washington's support for YPG militants, seen by Turkey as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it and other countries consider a terrorist organization.

Turkey is wary of the presence of the Kurdish militants close to its borders in Syria, opposing US training and arming of the fighters who remain in the territory they seized after Daesh left Raqqah under a deal in October.

Ankara has said the US promised it earlier in the year through Defense Secretary James Mattis to take back weapons from Kurdish militants once the Takfiri group is routed.

Lately, US-backed militants have turned their attention to oil-rich Dayr al-Zawr where Daesh has suffered serious beating in the face of an offensive by the Syrian army and its allies. 

On Monday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Washington had to honor the pledge to end supplying weapons to the Kurdish militants.

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster Kanal 24, Bozdag said, "The 'We will not give weapons' remarks from a US president for the first time is important, but it will lose value if it is not implemented. It would be deceiving the world."

In July, Turkey’s Anadolu state news agency exposed the locations of 10 US military bases and outposts in northern Syria, giving rise to speculations that Washington planned for a long-haul presence in the Arab country.

SS