Turkey, U.S. discuss situation in region

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Isik and United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis discussed the situation in the region as part of a meeting of NATO member states’ defense ministers, the Turkish Defense Ministry reported on June 29.

The two sides discussed the Qatar crisis and settlement of the military conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Among the issues discussed between the parties also was written guarantees of the U.S. that detachments of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) won’t use U.S. armament against Turkey.

The Turkish authorities have repeatedly stated that YPG and PYD, which are the Syrian wings of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), pose a threat to the country. Turkey also opposes the U.S. arming of PYD and YPG. According to Ankara, arming one terrorist group to fight against another doesn’t mean fighting terrorism.

Ankara also says that YPG and PYD will give U.S. weapons to PKK militants, and eventually, these weapons will be used against Turkey’s Armed Forces and Air Force.

Turkey and the United States are key NATO allies, but their relationship has been complicated by the U.S.'s strategy on Syria and Washington's refusal to extradite a Turkish cleric, who stands behind the failed coup in Turkey last year.

Trump’s decision to approve transfer of weapons to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the YPG escalated this uneasy situation even more.

Growing U.S. support for the YPG is a major collision point which negatively affects the traditionally strong U.S.-Turkish relationship.