Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit

Groups inside the Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces are involved in internal conflict, Turkish sources have admitted, amid reports that Turkish-backed rebels fought with each other in the Syrian town of al-Bab, leaving several dead and scores injured. 

The Barack Obama administration deceived Turkey over cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late on April 19, calling for stronger ties with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık has paid a quick visit to Washington in order to propose a new plan over an operation to liberate Syria's Raqqa from jihadists without making use of Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) forces. 

A coalition air strike accidentally killed 18 members of a U.S.-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near a key town in northern Syria, the U.S.-led coalition said on April 13.

The U.S.-led coalition has airlifted Syrian rebel forces to an operation near the Syrian town of Tabqa in Raqqa province while providing them with fire support, U.S. defense officials said on March 22.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on March 9 Turkey would strike against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) militia in the Syrian town of Manbij if they did not leave

A spokeswoman for Republican Senator John McCain said Feb. 22 that he traveled to northern Syria last week to discuss plans for defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with U.S. forces stationed there.
McCain, an Arizona Republican, is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said Feb. 18 that Turkey will be part of an operation to liberate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bastion of Raqqa, though not directly, if a deal with U.S.-led coalition forces can be reached. 

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said Feb. 18 that Turkish armed forces would not be directly involved in an operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bastion of Raqqa, but rather give tactical support. 

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis issued assurances that the U.S.-led coalition will provide more support to Turkey's Euphrates Shield Operation during his first meeting with his Turkish counterpart Fikri Işık late on Feb. 15 on the margins of a NATO summit in Brussels, according to Turkish officials.