Turkey Raises Concerns over US Arming of Syrian Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said he is concerned about Washington's decision to provide weapons to organizations posing a threat to Turkey.

In a Bloomberg interview, he has said the supply of arms to the People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, is "a source of concern".

"A very serious mistake is being committed before the world's eyes," he has said.

He has fended off claims support for the PYD/YPG is needed as the they are fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, warning "Al-Nusra in the same way is fighting Daesh." (Al-Nusra is the old name of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the considered an Al Qaeda affiliate, while Daesh is an acronym of IS).

Earlier this week, Ankara warned it would not take part in an operation to free Raqqa, the Syrian "stronghold" of IS, if Kurds are involved.

Ankara believes that PYD/YPG are affiliated to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) with which it called a short-lived ceasefire in 2013 after a decades-long insurgency.

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