Step back from arming YPG, Turkey again tells US

The U.S.'s arming of a Syrian Kurdish militia is "extremely dangerous" Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on May 31, urging Washington to reverse its "mistake."

"Such steps are extremely dangerous for Syria's unity and territorial integrity," Çavuşoğlu said, after the United States began providing small arms to fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG).

"If we are looking for stability in Syria, we should row back from those mistakes," he added, speaking at a press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for the first time on May 16, during which the issue of U.S. support for the YPG was discussed.

Less than a week before the meeting between Erdoğan and Trump, the latter approved arming fighters from the YPG.

"The president clearly expressed our position and concerns during his Washington visit. It was stressed how risky and dangerous the support given to the YPG was," Çavuşoğlu said.

"These weapons could be used against all of humanity, not just Turkey," he added.  

The Pentagon on May 30 said it had begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Syrian Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and dominated by YPG fighters.

The weapons include AK-47s and small-caliber machine guns, Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway stated.

In announcing the decision, the Pentagon said the U.S. is "keenly aware" of Turkey's security concerns.

Turkey views the YPG as a "terror group" linked to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK is also outlawed by the U.S., but...