Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Washington may become decisive and conclusive in terms of defining the U.S. clear position toward the terrorist PKK's Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Gulenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

Earlier, the Pentagon announced that President Donald Trump had approved the transfer of weapons to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the YPG. The YPG is the Syrian wing of the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and EU.

The matter is expected to put additional pressure on the first meeting between two leaders.

Erdogan said he would express his concerns in this regard at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25, Anadolu reported.

"I believe that these meetings will ensure the stability of the region and will lead us to reach a conclusion compatible with the realities of Syria."

"Every event in Syria and Iraq affects the national security of Turkey. We hope that Turkey's allies will side with Ankara and will not support terrorist organizations," the head of state said at a joint news conference with the leader of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma.

Erdogan also said he hoped the U.S. government would "reverse" its decision to arm the PKK/PYD in Syria before his visit to the U.S. next week.

The president once again stressed the inadmissibility of using one terrorist organization in the fight against another. "The mistakes of the past led to today's situation in Syria. I hope that these mistakes will not happen again," he added.

Growing U.S. support for the YPG is a major collision point which negatively affects the traditionally strong U.S.-Turkish relationship.

Turkey has offered to work directly with the U.S. and the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition to remove IS from Raqqa in Syria, but only if the U.S. stops working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is mainly comprised of YPG fighters.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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