The U.S. House of Representatives approved a military spending bill that ensures continued funding for Washington's so-called "partner forces" in Syria, including the PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot, the YPG.
The bill, which passed 219-210, includes language extending funding and authorizes to continue operations with "vetted Syrian groups" from the end of 2023 through the entirety of 2024.
The bill encompasses all Syrian groups, including the PKK/YPG-led SDF. It would also include funding for non-SDF groups, including local Syrian military forces at a strategic U.S. military installation along the Syria-Jordan-Iraq border.
The approval of the bill comes just a few days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on all of Türkiye's NATO allies to take a concrete stance against all terrorist groups.
The U.S. support for the YPG has strained relations with NATO ally Türkiye over the group's ties with the PKK, a designated terrorist organization in Türkiye, the United States and European Union.
The legislation also includes a dip in funding for broader efforts to thwart the Daesh terrorist group, down to $241.95 million from the $358 million appropriated for the fiscal year that concludes at the end of September.
The U.S. Senate is expected to begin voting on its version of the defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, next week. A joint committee will then attempt to hash through the differences to negotiate a consensus.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the YPG, despite its NATO ally Türkiye’s security concerns. While underlining that a country cannot support one terrorist group to fight another, Türkiye has conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU, has waged a terrorism campaign against Türkiye for more than four decades and has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women and children.