Turkey: Trump has to Keep his Promise not to Provide Arms to the Syrian Kurds

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and Government Speaker Bekir Bozhdag described the telephone conversation between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump as a "turning point" for the tensions between the two countries, reports 24 chasa. 

The two leaders spoke on the phone on Friday. The Turkish side reported that Erdogan has received Trump's assurance that the United States will no longer provide weapons to militants of the Syrian People's Force (SZI) Kurdish militia. The two sides also agreed to fight together against "all terrorist organizations", including the Islamic State, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish presidency said.

If the US does not fulfill its promise to stop supplying weapons to Kurdish SNA, it would mean to deceive the world, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister said in an interview with Turkish television Channel 24.

Bozdag added that Donald Trump has also urged the United States to collect the weapons that have already been handed over to the Syrian Kurdish militia after the struggle with the Islamic State has ended. The government spokesman also commented on the case against the Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarab, investigated in the United States for violating the embargo against Iran, the Anatolian Agency reported.

Bozhdag has asked the US investigating authorities whether they have any real evidence of Zarag, and if so, from who they have received it. Resa Zarab, a Turkish businessman of Iranian origin, was arrested last year in the US and the trial against him is set to begin in the coming days. The government spokesman earlier said the case was "politically motivated" and described it as "an open conspiracy against Turkey."