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The Turkish government has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s statement that he would stop arming the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) for the war against ISIS, but wants the United States to go further and recover the weapons already delivered, a top adviser to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday.
"It is good to hear that the United States is taking this step,” Yasin Aktay said in a brief interview with Rudaw's Namo Abdullah in Istanbul. “We need some steps forward to withdraw the weapons, because the weapons are still in the hands of some uncontrollable" groups.
Aktay, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), argued that Turkey is fearful these groups constitute a danger not only to Turkey, but also to the people of Syria and the US.
He said arming the YPG, a group that only Ankara considers a terrorist organization, "was a violation of all the principles" they agreed on with Washington as two allies and NATO members.
He said Ankara hoped the US would "stand with" Turkey in the war against ISIS instead of channeling resources to the YPG in Syria, explaining that Ankara has been a "pioneer" in the war against ISIS in places like northern Syria’s Jarablus.
Turkey was “disappointed” by the United States’ decision to arm the YPG to fight ISIS, saying it is not a “sufficient solution to arm some other – or to cooperate with some terrorist organizations against some other terrorist organization."
Aktay said the decision will help normalize the relationship between the two countries – including on the visa suspension issue. He said the situation in the Middle East is such that the two NATO allies must work together towards stability in the region.
According to the White House readout of the Friday phone call between Trump and Erdogan, the American president informed the Turkish leader of “pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria, now that the battle of Raqqa is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return.”
Raqqa was declared liberated last month and ISIS is near military defeat in Deir ez-Zor province. The US-led Coalition has been working with local policing forces and civilian councils as they begin the daunting task of rebuilding.
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