“We are reviewing pending adjustments to the military support provided to our Kurdish partners in as much as the military requirements of our defeat-ISIS and stabilization efforts will allow to prevent ISIS from returning,” Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said on Monday.
The United States, as a member of the global coalition to counter ISIS, earlier this year began arming Kurdish YPG forces fighting the militant group in northern Syria under the banner of the SDF – a multi-ethnic Syrian force.
A Kurdish official said there have been “no changes” to relations between the SDF and the United States.
“Obviously, there will be an adjustment in the delivery of arms to the SDF after the elimination of ISIS,” Abdel Karim Amr said, according to AFP, adding that there is no policy change and Turkish statements on the matter are “incorrect.”
Turkey has fiercely opposed arming Kurds in Syria and has said it will monitor the situation to ensure action on what they say is a pledge from US President Donald Trump to stop arming the Kurdish forces.
“Has the PYD/YPG terror organization been given weapons by the US after the statement was made? Turkey will certainly monitor this pledge,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster Kanal 24 on Monday.
If not, then Trump’s statement “will have no value,” he added.
Trump spoke on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. Afterwards, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the US president “gave clear instructions and said the YPG will not be provided with weapons from now.”
A later statement from the White House was less direct, saying Trump informed Erdogan 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.”
The SDF, with coalition backing, liberated Raqqa in October after a months-long campaign. They are currently battling ISIS in eastern Deir ez-Zor province.
The coalition has continued to support local forces after the military defeat of ISIS. In Raqqa, an internal security force has been established under the control of the Raqqa Civil Council. The force is composed of local volunteers and is tasked with providing local security and preventing an ISIS resurgence.
This force is “enabled” by the coalition. “We will continue to support this local Syrian-led effort, which ensures representative, local governance, good security and full engagement with the tribal leaders and people of Raqqa,” said coalition commander Maj, Gen. James Jarrard in a published statement last week.
The coalition told the Jerusalem Post on Sunday that they would “continue to provide assistance to the forces comprising the SDF as long as they remain committed to the goal of fighting and defeating ISIS.”
They added that Turkey is informed of any equipment that goes to the Kurdish forces.
Ankara considers the armed YPG and its political wing PYD extensions of the PKK, a named terrorist organization. While the groups follow the doctrine of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, they claim they are distinct from the PKK.
At a NATO meeting earlier in November, Turkey’s Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said he provided evidence to US Defense Secretary James Mattis that American weapons were being used against Turkish forces and demanded the United States stop shipping weapons to the YPG.
The YPG maintains that the weapons provided to it for the war against ISIS are used solely for that purpose.
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