Terrorists for Turkey, heroes for US and Russia

When the insignia of the People's Protection Units (YPG), a red star on a yellow triangle - a version of the symbol of many left-wing militant organizations around the world - first appeared as badges on the arms of the U.S. Special Forces in Syria in May 2016, the Turkish government was furious about it.

The speculation then was that the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) had deliberately allowed those photos to be leaked to the press so that the Turkish army would not hit the YPG militants who were collaborating with U.S. forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), or DEASH in Arabic.

That was before the Syria town of Manbij was taken from the hands of ISIL in August 2016, with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a front organization whose spine is made up by the YPG. That was a month after the military coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, which temporarily paralyzed the Turkish army and 10 days before Turkey started its own operation in Syria, backing Free Syria Army (FSA) rebels under the auspices of the Euphrates Shield Operation.

The YPG is the military wing of the Syria-based Democratic Unity Party (PYD), which is actually the Syrian sister ("cousin" is the word used by former CIA chief David Petraeus) of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an armed campaign since  1984 against Turkey, which is a NATO member like the U.S.

The U.S. designates the PKK as a terrorist organization and its leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was arrested in Kenya in 1999 thanks to a joint operation by the CIA and Turkish intelligence, MİT.

Turkey has been asking the U.S. to drop the YPG as a partner so that Ankara and Washington can take Raqqa together with the help of rebel Arab forces.