US embassy in Ankara rejects reports of tank, truckloads of arms shipments to YPG

The U.S. embassy in Turkey denied Turkish media reports that the United States had sent tanks and hundreds of truckloads of weapons into Syria to support the PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG), which dominates the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group.

A statement posted on the embassy website said the U.S. has not provided tanks to any groups fighting Daesh in Syria, and the vast majority of trucks crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border did not contain military equipment or supplies.

"The majority of U.S. military assistance, which consists primarily of light weapons and ammunition, has supported Syrian Arab Coalition elements of the SDF. The Syrian Arabs who comprise the SAC are fighting to expel Daesh and regain control of their homes," the statement said.

"A much smaller percentage of weapons given to Kurdish elements of the SDF are limited, specific to task and are only provided due to their importance in helping achieve the goal shared by all of us – i.e., the capture of Raqqa and the destruction of Daesh. We continue to provide full transparency to the government of Turkey as to what weapons are being delivered to the YPG," it added.

Turkey considers YPG as the offshoot of PKK, which is also designated a terrorist group by the U.S.