Reports on US Weapons Transfers to Kurds in Syria Inaccurate - Embassy in Turkey

Recent media reports that the United States is providing tanks and huge amounts of weapons to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria are false, the US embassy in Turkey said in a statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The mission was responding to media reports in Turkey that the United States has sent "tanks" and "hundreds of truckloads of weapons" into Syria to support the YPG.

"These reports ignore basic facts about the current situation in Syria. The United States has not provided tanks to any groups fighting Daesh in Syria," the statement said.

US assistance to the Kurds in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including the YPG, are limited, and most US military assistance goes to Arab elements of the SDF, the statement explained.

Furthermore, the mission said most trucks that cross the Iraqi border into Syria are full of food, medicine and other aid for internally-displaced persons in Syria and do not contain military equipment or supplies.

Ankara considers the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is a designated terrorist group in Turkey and the United States.

The SDF launched the operation to reclaim the Syrian city of Raqqa on June 6, more than three years after Daesh captured the city. Last week, US Department of Defense spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis said the SDF was in control of 40 percent of the city.