ANKARA (Sputnik) — Anadolu reported on Tuesday that the United States had a total of 10 military outposts in Syria in the territory controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The report identified the locations where the bases were situated and outlined some of their uses, including US-led coalition airstrike coordination and the training of Kurdish fighters.
"Anadolu news agency prepared this piece of news [about US bases in Syria] on its own. As a news agency, it could choose this topic. Even in our thoughts, we did not want to take steps that threaten the security of our allies," Kalin said at a press conference in Ankara.
Ankara considers the PYD and the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey. However, the PYD and the YPG, as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been receiving support from the United States in fighting Daesh terrorists in Syria.
On May 9, the US Defense Department announced that President Donald Trump had approved a plan to arm Kurdish YPG in order to better fight against terrorism in Syria despite objections from Turkey.
