USA agreed providing PYD YPG with heavy weapons.

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Insallah brother. Turkey is making a tightrope . I don't think that a nuclear war will start.
USA is too weak to beat Russia, China and their "allies" with NAVY. They need boots on the ground, that's the reason why they concentrate troops in Europe. Not Russia or China is the threat. It is the USA itself.

As for the USA, it's on a path to self imposed isolation. The next President will be even more isolationist and may be more successful in implementing his policies!!! The trend is already set, there may be some zigzags but can't be reversed!!! With a 20t $ loan and ticking up with every second, not many choices are left either!!! On the top of it more determined and motivated global players with fresh minds and unquenchable thirsts are emerging!!! Bottom-line: everybody is on his/her own....

 

[HAIDER]

VILNIUS: The Trump administration will provide heavier weapons to Syria’s Kurds as they and their allies move closer to an attack on the key IS stronghold of Raqqa, US officials said on Tuesday.

The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation, but it clashes with the Turkish government’s view that the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG is an extension of Kurdish terrorist organisation that operates in Turkey.

The US sees the Kurds as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.

After lengthy deliberations, the administration approved plans to provide additional weaponry to the Kurds. A full list wasn’t immediately available, but officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armoured vehicles were possibilities. They said the US would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

The US officials who disclosed the Trump administration decision weren’t authorised to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. They described no firm timeline, with the American intention to provide the new weapons to the Syrian Kurds as soon as possible.

A congressional aide said officials informed relevant members of Congress of the decision on Monday evening.

Senior US officials including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara. The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but US officials insisted there was no real alternative.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit President Donald Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

And in Denmark earlier Tuesday, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he had useful discussions with Turkey and described the two countries as working out differences over a US alliance with Syrian Kurds in fighting IS militants.

“That’s not to say we all walk into the room with exactly the same appreciation of the problem or the path forward,” Mattis told reporters after meeting with officials from more than a dozen nations also fighting IS. Basat Ozturk, a senior Turkish defence official, participated.

“We’re going to sort it out,” Mattis said. “We’ll figure out how we’re going to do it.” Tensions escalated last month when Turkey conducted air strikes on Kurdish bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish military said it killed at least 90 militants and wounded scores. The Kurdish group in Syria said 20 of its fighters and media activists were killed in the strike, which was followed by cross-border clashes.

The instability has concerned Washington, which fears it will slow the effort to retake Raqqa.

“We’ve been conducting military and diplomatic dialogue with the Turks and it was a very, very useful discussion today,” Mattis said at a press conference with Danish Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2017

 

[T-Rex]

You guys can scream POLITICS!! all you want, but this fucking thing is the fault of this fucking government. There was so much time and ressources in Syria and you fucked it up, this is no ordinary **** up but one of the highest magnitudes. A permanent security threat along a 900km(?) border. Well fucking done.

What resources in Syria are you talking about?

don't even know what to say. either ypg/pkk are smarter than us or our government is dumb. can't comprehend.

The YPG terrorists aren't smarter, it's just that nowadays the capitalists of the west and the communist or socialists in the Muslim world are natural allies. The west knows all too well how rabidly anti-Muslim these communists in the Muslim world are and that makes them darling of the west. The capitalists arm and fund communist terrorists while the so-called communists do the bidding for the capitalist terrorists.

 

[Nefarious]

With 'friends' like these, who needs enemy's. Same thing happened when hostile Northern Alliance minority were put in charge of the majority next door. Same pattern.

Kurds are hungry to carve out Iraq and Syria, birth of this neighbour means trouble. Cross border anti terror raids will have to become the norm.

 

[Zibago]

US to arm Syrian Kurds over Turkish opposition
The White House has signed off on an order to arm Kurdish fighters whom Turkey classifies as terrorists. The US has doubled down on its position that Kurds provide crucial help in the fight against "Islamic State."




Watch video00:30
US to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria
The administration of US President Donald Trump approved a measure on Tuesday supplying weapons to Kurdish fighters over the fierce objections of NATO ally Turkey. The Pentagon stressed that assisting the People's Protection Units (YPG) was "necessary to ensure a clear victory" against the last "Islamic State" stronghold in Syria.

The YPG is an ethnic Kurdish militia tied to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led an on-and-off insurgency in southeastern Turkey for three decades. It has been outlawed by Ankara as a terrorist organization.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement. "We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the US is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

Pentagon: Kurds most effective against IS

The US has argued that local Kurdish fighters are some of the most effective partners in its coalition to defeat IS terrorists. Washington hopes to use the YPG to push the jihadists from Raqqa, their last stronghold in Syria.

YPG has allied itself with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has long received backing from the US. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that "the SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

Control over Raqqa has changed hands twice during the course of Syria's six-year civil conflict. It was first overrun by moderate rebels in 2013, before IS captured it along with vast swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The supplies delivered to the YPG are expected to include small arms, machine guns, engineering equipment, armored vehicles and ammunition.

es/kl (AP, Reuters)
http://www.dw.com/en/us-to-arm-syri...sition/a-38777874?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

 

[Banglar Bir]

US to arm Syrian Kurds despite Turkey’s ire

• Reuters
• Published at 05:06 PM May 10, 2017

Turkey fears that advances by the YPG in northern Syria will inflame the three-decade insurgency, waged by the PKK, at home. Some 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died since the PKK first took up arms against the state in 1984
Despite fierce opposition from Nato ally Turkey, US President Donald Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, US officials said on Tuesday.

Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, fighting within a larger US-backed coalition, as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

The Pentagon immediately sought to stress that it saw arming the Kurdish forces “as necessary to ensure a clear victory” in Raqqa, IS’s de facto capital in Syria and a hub for planning the group’s attacks against the West.

“We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement as she travelled in Lithuania with defence secretary Jim Mattis.

“We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the US is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our Nato ally,” White said.

The US has long directly supplied arms to the Arab components of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which include YPG fighters. White said Washington would still prioritise supplying those Arab fighters within the SDF.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the equipment for the Kurdish fighters could include small arms, ammunition, machine guns, armoured vehicles and engineering equipment.

Equipment provided to the SDF would be limited, specific to a mission and provided “incrementally as objectives are reached” White said.

Threat to Turkey
Every weapon obtained by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia constitutes a threat to Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday, emphasising Ankara’s opposition to the US deal to arm the fighters against IS.

Cavusoglu, who was speaking to reporters while on a visit to Montenegro, said the US should distinguish between the YPG and their Arab allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, and that the Arabs should be the ones to enter Raqqa.

“Both the PKK and the YPG are terrorist organisations and they are no different, apart from their names. Every weapon seized by them is a threat to Turkey,” Cavusoglu said, in comments that were broadcast live by TRT Haber. “Within the SDF, Arabs and the YPG should be distinguished and Arab forces should be the ones entering Raqqa.”

Cavusoglu said the US was aware of its stance and that the issues would be discussed by President Tayyip Erdogan when he meets Trump in Washington next week.

The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkey. However, Washington sees the affiliated YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against IS in Syria.

Kurdish YPG sees bigger role
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia praised on Wednesday a “historic” US decision to arm its fighters and said it expected to play a stronger and more influential role in what it called the fight against terrorism.

“We believe that from now on and after this historic decision, (the YPG) will play a stronger, more influential and more decisive role in combating terrorism at a fast pace,” YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said in a written statement.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2017/05/10/us-arm-syrian-kurds-despite-turkeys-ire/

 

[T-Rex]

Turkey against arming YPG to fight against Daesh: PM Yıldırım
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published 7 hours ago

AFP Photo
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Wednesday that Turkey's position against U.S. decision to use PKK-linked Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) to eradicate Daesh remains the same.

Speaking to reporters before departing for London on Wednesday, Yildirim said Turkey cannot accept "direct or indirect" support for the PKK and organizations which share organic ties with the terror group.

Yıldırım said "there is still an opportunity for the United States to take Turkey's sensitivities into consideration. Otherwise, the outcome won't only affect Turkey, a negative outcome will also emerge for the United States."

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said "We cannot accept the presence of terrorist organizations that would threaten the future of the Turkish state... We hope the U.S. administration will put a stop to this wrong and turn back from it."

The deputy PM said the U.S. claim that cooperation with the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) was the only way to fight Daesh in a ground offensive was not based on facts.

U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the Defense Department to equip "Kurdish elements" of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday "to ensure a clear victory" over Daesh in Raqqa, Syria.

The U.S. support for the SDF has been a major strain on relations between Washington and Ankara as the YPG forms the backbone of SDF forces.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian affiliates of the PKK, a proscribed terrorist organization in the U.S., Turkey and the EU.

But Washington has adamantly resisted similarly designating the YPG, using it as a principal partner in the ground war in the fight against Daesh in northern Syria.

The Pentagon said the U.S. is "keenly aware" of Turkey's security concerns as it announced the policy shift.

"We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally," White said.

"The U.S. continues to prioritize our support for Arab elements of the SDF," she said, adding that Raqqah "and all liberated territory should return to the governance of local Syrian Arabs."

The Pentagon did not immediately specify what types of support the U.S. would begin to supply under the new authorities, but a Defense official said it would include small arms, machine guns, ammunition, armored vehicles, trucks and engineering equipment.

https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomac...arming-ypg-to-fight-against-daesh-pm-yildirim

 

[Ryuzaki]

US was already covertly arming them using arms drops "by mistake"

 

[signup]

Turkey against arming YPG to fight against Daesh: PM Yıldırım
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published 7 hours ago

AFP Photo
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Wednesday that Turkey's position against U.S. decision to use PKK-linked Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) to eradicate Daesh remains the same.

Speaking to reporters before departing for London on Wednesday, Yildirim said Turkey cannot accept "direct or indirect" support for the PKK and organizations which share organic ties with the terror group.

Yıldırım said "there is still an opportunity for the United States to take Turkey's sensitivities into consideration. Otherwise, the outcome won't only affect Turkey, a negative outcome will also emerge for the United States."

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said "We cannot accept the presence of terrorist organizations that would threaten the future of the Turkish state... We hope the U.S. administration will put a stop to this wrong and turn back from it."

The deputy PM said the U.S. claim that cooperation with the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) was the only way to fight Daesh in a ground offensive was not based on facts.

U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the Defense Department to equip "Kurdish elements" of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday "to ensure a clear victory" over Daesh in Raqqa, Syria.

The U.S. support for the SDF has been a major strain on relations between Washington and Ankara as the YPG forms the backbone of SDF forces.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian affiliates of the PKK, a proscribed terrorist organization in the U.S., Turkey and the EU.

But Washington has adamantly resisted similarly designating the YPG, using it as a principal partner in the ground war in the fight against Daesh in northern Syria.

The Pentagon said the U.S. is "keenly aware" of Turkey's security concerns as it announced the policy shift.

"We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally," White said.

"The U.S. continues to prioritize our support for Arab elements of the SDF," she said, adding that Raqqah "and all liberated territory should return to the governance of local Syrian Arabs."

The Pentagon did not immediately specify what types of support the U.S. would begin to supply under the new authorities, but a Defense official said it would include small arms, machine guns, ammunition, armored vehicles, trucks and engineering equipment.

https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomac...arming-ypg-to-fight-against-daesh-pm-yildirim

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Needs Bamb Bamb..

Table Fallen.

 

[T-Rex]

BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Needs Bamb Bamb..

Table Fallen.

And so shall you reap what you're sowing! Do you not see what has happened to your mighty British empire?

 

[Mr.Department]

Needs Bamb Bamb.

Russia traitored us also saying airstrikes in Sincar and Karacok are unacceptable,
weakened our position. Only solution is massive land strike.

 

[litman]

US is making the things difficult for erdogan . erdogan survived US plot last year. but now noose is tightening around his neck. history shows that US always got rid of the people who worked for her when they became useless. BTW he has made lot of money by smuggling oil through ISIS from syria. payback time mr erdogan

 

[Fledgingwings]

USA is making historical mistakes.

 

[Fledgingwings]

No matter where you go its always USA.

 

[LeGenD]

USA is making historical mistakes.

Correction: US is working for its interests.

Why do we expect US to care about interests of Turkey or Pakistan? Do we care about American interests or listen to everything they say?

YPG is a political force in that region and comprises of mostly Syrian nationals; support of this group is deemed necessary for routing ISIS from Syria.

Turkey's beef is with PKK group but accuses YPG for supporting it and continues to target both. In this manner, Turkey has widened the scale of its conflict with Kurds and contributing to instability in Syria. US is worried that ISIS will gain from this situation.

This article clears some misconceptions: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33690060

Turkey has a legitimate case against PKK but shelling positions of YPG in Syria is a problematic endeavor under present circumstances.