Ankara has repeatedly blamed Washington for lending military support to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), while the US insists its backing of the Kurds is needed to counter Daesh*. In February 2018, then-US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed that the White House has “never given heavy arms to the YPG”.
The US has delivered its advanced Javelin and TOW anti-tank missile systems to the Kurdish Self-Defence Forces (YPG), based in the in northern Syrian city of Manbij, the Turkish newspaper Yeni Akit cited sources as saying.
The sources claimed that right now, Turkey's special forces are trying to track these systems, as the YPG is “preparing a trap for Turkish tanks which are ready to enter Manbij”.
Turkey, US Agreed Roadmap of YPG's Withdrawal From Syria's Manbij
The reported developments come after Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated during his meeting with Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Turkey's call on the US to promptly withdraw the US-backed YPG forces from Manbij.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Ankara would launch a military operation east of the Euphrates River if the US failed to withdraw its troops from the Arab Republic in time.
In a separate development this week, President Donald Trump, for his part, warned on his Twitter page that the US will “devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds”.
‘Not Really The US' Fight':…
