The U.S. military is still backing and providing armed support to the Syrian Kurds in northeastern Syria, despite Turkey’s objections and demands that they discontinue their support for the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Quoting a U.S. defense official on Wednesday, the International News Agency reported that the US military was still providing weapons and military support to the Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria.
“We continue to provide very tailored arms and vehicles to the SDF” for use against IS, said Chris Maier, the director of the working group on the war against the jihadists at the Department of Defense.
“We’re very transparent about what those supplies are,” Maier said, mentioning “We provide monthly to Turkey a report of what those arms and vehicles are.”
Earlier this week, sources in the Al-Hasakah Governorate reported that a US military convoy consisting of 150 supply vehicles entered the northeastern Syria city of Al-Malikiyah.
The YPG was established in 2004 as the armed wing for the Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party. It expanded its boundaries and operations rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and end up dominating over other armed Kurdish groups.
Ankara has long demanded the US support to push back the YPG terror group and developing a safe zone in northern Syria,
YPG group terrorizes locals and poses a threat to Turkey. The PKK has killed over 40,000 people in Turkey including women, children, and infants in its decades-long terror history.
The YPG has also been criticized by Turkey for its alleged support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, especially after the rebellion movement in southern Turkey that began in 2015.
As a step toward addressing Ankara’s concerns, the US has started carrying out the joint patrols with Turkey. The U.S. and Turkish armed forces start establishing a safe zone in northern Syria after they began joint patrols.