Ankara summons US, Russian envoys upon concerns of arms transfer to YPG

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned U.S. ambassador to Turkey John Bass and Russian ambassador Andrey Karlov separately over concerns regarding weapons transfers to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) armed People's Protection Units (YPG), which is the PKK's Syrian affiliate. Following a statement from the Pentagon on Monday indicating an airdrop had been conducted in efforts to provide arms and ammunition to resupply local forces to enable them to continue operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu expressed Ankara's concerns on Tuesday and said that Ankara will give the same treatment to the PYD as the internationally recognized PKK terrorist organization if it transfers weapons to the PKK and poses a threat to Turkey.

According to diplomatic sources, alongside regional developments, Ankara has once more conveyed its stance to the U.S. and Russian ambassadors regarding the PYD and expressed concerns over arms transfers. In a press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on Wednesday, Davutoğlu said that Bass had been briefed on Ankara's concerns about the issue and its stance against the PYD. Responding to a question regarding U.S. and PYD cooperation in Syria, Davutoğlu said that there is a risk of weapons being taken by the PKK and used against Turkey. "We will not allow arms stored in Syria to get into Turkey, and this has been conveyed to both the U.S. and Russia," Davutoğlu said. Additionally Karlov was summoned to the Foreign Ministry twice before, due to airspace violations and the details of the rules of engagement were conveyed to the ambassador.