After President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last Friday, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters that the American leader promised to halt arms deliveries to the People's Protection Units (YPG) terrorists – the military wing of the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD).
This statement dropped like a bombshell and created euphoria among Turks that at last the U.S. had seen the realities that arming YPG terrorists in Syria was a grand mistake. But the statement made by our foreign minister was too good to be true.
It took the America establishment a couple of days to digest this statement. Then on Monday, the Pentagon announced the U.S. will continue its partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) where the YPG is a major player. But not to antagonize Turkey the Pentagon also said they had previously told Turkey that the arms provided to the terrorists would be "limited, mission-specific and provided incrementally to achieve military objectives." The Pentagon also said it is "reviewing pending adjustments to military support" provided to the SDF based on requirements.
While recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group, the Americans have treated its Syrian affiliate the PYD/YPG as an ally in its anti-Daesh efforts. Yet, so-called PYD/YPG militants have embarrassed the Americans when they captured Raqqa and displayed huge portraits of Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK chieftain. It is no secret that the PKK leadership controls and manipulates the PYD and the YPG.
It is clear that once news came out that Trump promised to end arms deliveries to the YPG, YPG militants asked the American assets embedded in their command centers in northern Syria to clarify the picture. Thus, the Americans had to ease the YPG concerns that they are not abandoning them. The Pentagon is clearly caught between the promises of Trump to Turkey and the pressures created by the YPG militants in Syria.
The Pentagon has to realize that they are faced with an unsustainable situation. Despite promises by Trump, it is clear the Pentagon is inclined to provide support to the PYD/YPG. Yet, now that Daesh is finished, it is clear that the insistence to provide arms to YPG militants has another motive. The Pentagon would be making a colossal mistake if they think they can use the YPG against Iran and Russia in Syria.
Iran has already said the YPG should vacate Raqqa and hand over the regions east of the Euphrates to the Assad regime and has hinted it will use force to achieve this goal. Now is the time for President Trump to show leadership and stand by his words. It is time the American administration creates a viable Syria policy.
