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."
Speaking in a live interview at the IDEF 2017 defense fair in Istanbul, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said that arming the YPG would have calamitious consequences in the region, and it is a crisis in itself.
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 prime minister 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,"
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday he was confident the United States would be able to resolve tensions with Turkey over the U.S. decision to arm PKK-linked YPG forces in Syria, saying: "We'll work out any of the concerns."
"We will work very closely with Turkey in support of their security on their southern border. It's Europe's southern border, and we'll stay closely connected," Mattis told reporters during a visit to the Pabrade Training Area in Lithuania.
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.
