Turkey’s defense minister, Fikri Işık, said in an interview Friday that his government is seeking to play a role in retrieving weapons that the United States has provided Syrian Kurdish militias for use in the liberation of Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State “caliphate.”
Turkish officials claimed this week that Pentagon chief James Mattis assured them in a letter that the United States was lending, not gifting, weapons to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), widely considered the most effective military force on the ground in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State. Despite years of cooperation with Washington against the Islamic State, the Turkish government has designated the YPG a terrorist organization indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK is a U.S.-designated Marxist terrorist group.
Işık told reporters Friday that he is seeking to establish a “joint mechanism” with Washington to ensure that Turkey is present in the retrieval of heavy weapons lent to the YPG. While calling the alleged Mattis letter a “positive” development, he did not appear convinced that America would take back the weapons, saying, “We will see if the statements in the letter are met on the ground.”
The state-run Anadolu Agency translated more statements from the interview, in which Işık said, “If the U.S. says they will take back weapons delivered to the PKK/PYD terrorist group after the Raqqah, Syria, operation, they should keep their promise. We will be tracking the process.”
American officials confirmed in May that they would provide weapons to the “Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),” a multi-ethnic coalition of militias led and primarily comprised of the YPG and their female unit, the YPJ. The Pentagon’s announcement of the new policy called the YPG “the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future.” The operation to liberate Raqqa officially began in early June.
On Thursday, Anadolu reported that Mattis promised to retrieve the weapons lent to the YPG and to provide “monthly list of weapons and equipment supplied to the PKK/PYD.” The U.S. State Department reiterated its support for the SDF generally that day, with spokeswoman Heather Nauert telling reporters, “The SDF has been the best force to take back control of Raqqa. We have worked with them closely in that arena and they have done a very good job.”
The SDF is working to take control of the suburbs surround Raqqa, ensuring that Islamic State jihadists cannot escape once the militia enters city limits and the urban battle begins. The BBC reported Friday that the YPG and allied SDF members have reached “the edge of the old city” of Raqqa and must now take extra precautions as they begin to sweep block by block of the city. The SDF count on air support from the United States as they conduct the operation, providing the necessary intelligence to their American allies for accurate attacks on Islamic State targets.
As the siege of Raqqa continues, reports indicate that Turkey is deploying troops to the area to its Syrian border to protect from any expansion of the YPG territory. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday it had evidence of a Turkish presence growing in northern Syria near the Turkish border. SDF forces confirmed to al-Monitor that they were aware of an expanded Turkish presence there, expressing concern that they were seeking to use the area as a “springboard” to send more troops into Syrian Kurdistan, or Rojava.
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