Turkish media reported that the United States sent new military equipment and supplies to Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants and its Kurdish forces in Syria.
The Turkish newspaper “Star” explained that the United States, “an ally of Turkey,” “sent new equipment and weapons to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Kurdish People’s Units group located in Zawiya in Syria.”
The newspaper explained that two American military cargo planes landed in Hasakah yesterday, Sunday.
She added: “Military equipment and supplies were delivered to terrorists holed up in the Deir ez-Zor region in a convoy of 60 armored vehicles and trucks.”
US support for the Syrian Democratic Forces has sparked tensions between it and Türkiye, a NATO member.
For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently said, “Ankara was calling on Washington to stop its military support for the Syrian Democratic Forces.”
He also stressed that the new Syrian government must address the issue of Kurdish forces on its territory, which would spare Ankara the need to intervene.
The new leadership in Damascus shows friendliness towards Ankara and expresses its desire to unify all of Syria under the umbrella of a central administration, which may be a challenge to the decentralized rule preferred by the Kurds.
The main Kurdish factions in Syria are on the defensive as they seek to preserve political gains made during the 13-year war.
For Turkey, the Kurdish factions represent a threat to national security, as Ankara considers them an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, and Turkey, the United States, and other powers consider it a terrorist organization.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that he expects foreign countries to withdraw their support for Kurdish fighters after the overthrow of Assad. A Turkish official said that the root cause of the conflict “is not Turkey’s vision of the region; The reason is that the PKK/YPG is a terrorist organization.”
He added, “Kurdistan Workers’ Party/YPG members must give up their weapons and leave Syria.”
Syrian Kurdish groups led by the Democratic Union Party and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) took control of much of the north after the outbreak of the uprising against Assad in 2011. They established their own administration while stressing that they seek autonomy, not independence.
Their territory expanded as US-led forces allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the campaign against ISIS, taking control of predominantly Arab areas.
Washington views the Syrian Democratic Forces as a key partner in confronting ISIS, which US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned would try to use this period to rebuild its capabilities in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces are still guarding tens of thousands of detainees linked to the armed organization.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, said on Friday that Washington is working with Ankara and the Syrian Democratic Forces for a “tight transition regarding the role of the Syrian Democratic Forces in that part of the country.”
Last updated: December 23, 2024 – 12:00
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