Turkey slams US for armored vehicles to Kurdish-led forces
"We will not simply watch. [In response] we will surely do what is necessary."
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Turkey will not idly watch as the United States provides the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said a top Turkish ruling party official on Wednesday.
“The fact the US has raised the bar and started giving more advanced weapons, armored vehicles to the so-called SDF which is mainly the offshoot of the terrorist group PKK is an issue we are watching with concern,” said deputy head of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Yasin Aktay.
An SDF spokesperson Talal Silo on Wednesday revealed to Kurdistan24 his group received eight improved armored vehicles.
Silo added the move was a sign of more support by US President Donald Trump’s new administration.
“But of course we will not simply watch,” Aktay added. “[In response] we will surely do what is necessary.”
The deputy head delivered his speech at an Ankara press conference without further elaborating his country’s reaction to the US military aid for the Kurdish groups, reported the Kurdistan24 bureau in the Turkish capital.
The US Department of Defense earlier confirmed the reports of armored vehicles shipment to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG)-led SDF, naming the recipients as “the Syrian Arab Coalition.”
Aktay, who is also an AKP spokesperson, on Thursday told the pro-government TV Net the US became the “problem itself,” claiming his country’s NATO ally could be backing the Islamic State (IS).
US air support and arms shipments to the Kurdish-led forces began with IS’ assault on Kobani during former President Barack Obama’s tenure in late 2014.
The US’ support irritated Turkey which is fearful of growing Kurdish self-rule throughout the Middle East.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday criticized the US administration for accepting terror groups as interlocutors and accused it of strengthening terrorism.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany