Column: PYD already turned its US arms on Turkey

İlnur Çevik BY: İLNUR ÇEVIK*

They did not even wait until they captured the northern Syrian city of Raqqa from Daesh to turn on Turkey and Turkish interests in Syria…

The Americans have been telling us tales that the heavy arms and ammunition they provided to the Syrian terrorists namely the forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and their masters the PKK terrorist organization would not be used against Turkey and its forces, yet, the latest developments show very clearly that this is not the case…

Turkey spoiled the game of the PYD, YPG and PKK to capture all of the northern areas in Syria just across the Turkish border and formed a mini state by capturing a large chunk of the region through Operation Euphrates Shield where Turkish forces and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) comprised of local Arabs pushed Daesh terrorists out of the border areas and secured a 3,000-square-kilometer area.

Thus Turkey split the so-called zone that the PYD, YPG and PKK trio were trying to secure…

The Syrian terrorists were left with the Afrin area just east of Turkey’s Hakkari province and the so-called Rojova area that is situated between the Euphrates River and the Iraqi border…

The Americans have been supplying the Syrian terrorists with heavy arms, ammunition and all kinds of equipment as well as training them and herding them. This is done through a presidential order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump…

The Americans have been saying they are providing assurances to Ankara that these arms will not be used against Turkey and that they are keeping a close tab on how and where the arms are used. But this is hardly convincing when the same American officials recently announced that $1 billion worth of U.S. arms are unaccounted for in Iraq…

In fact during the weekend Turkish security forces discovered a PKK cave which was used as a depot by the separatist terrorists in the Şemdinli area of the southeastern province of Hakkari and look what came out of that cave: A sophisticated new generation Swedish made AT-4 antitank missile that was handed over to the YPG in Syria very recently by the Americans to “fight” Daesh…

Of course other missiles and weapons were also recovered in the process but the most notable one was the anti-tank missile that the U.S. handed over to the YPG…

So shouldn’t our American “allies” be doing some explaining here?

It is very clear that the PYD and YPG, just as they did for years, are providing all kinds of support to the PKK terrorists trying to fight a secessionist war inside Turkey. Yet the Americans are simply turning a deaf ear to Ankara’s warnings and complaints…

They are telling us that once the Raqqa operation ends things will be different, yet, every indication is showing that things will turn to the worse instead of improving…

The YPG, PYD and PKK trio seem to be flexing their muscle to take on Turkey and try to drive it out of the region freed from Daesh during Operation Euphrates Shield…

A video by a PKK militant has clearly suggested this and current actions of the YPG terrorists in the region suggest this. The YPG forces have tried to attack a village in Mare inside the protected zone and fought against the FSA. A total of 25 YPG militants and 17 Arab fighters were killed. This is all a very serious security threat to Turkey and should be addressed immediately.

The Americans have to help Turkey secure its southern borders inside Syria in Afrin and Rojava.

*İLNUR ÇEVIK is a Turkish columnist. He writes for Daily Sabah Turkish newspaper.

(Published in Daily Sabah on Tuesday, June 20, 2017)