Turkey balks at arming Kurds against ISIS

[Jazzy]

Turkey would not agree to any U.S. arms transfers to Kurdish fighters who are battling Islamic militants in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying Sunday, as the extremist group fired more mortar rounds near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Turkey views the main Syrian Kurdish group, the PYD - and its military wing which is fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - as an extension of the PKK, which has waged a 30-year insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by the United States and NATO.

The United States has said recently that it has engaged in intelligence sharing with Kurdish fighters and officials have not ruled out future arms transfers to the Kurdish fighters.

"The PYD is for us, equal to the PKK. It is a terror organization," Erdogan told a group of reporters on his return from a visit to Afghanistan.

"It would be wrong for the United States - with whom we are friends and allies in NATO - to expect us to say 'yes' to such a support to a terrorist organization," Erdogan said. His comments were reported by the state-run Anadolu agency on Sunday.

Turkey's opposition to arms transfers to the Kurdish forces is hampering the U.S.-led coalitions' efforts to fight the extremists and further complicating relations between Turkey and the United States.

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Your thoughts on Turkey's opposition to arms transfers to the Kurdish forces?

 

[Webster]

Your thoughts on Turkey's opposition to arms transfers to the Kurdish forces?

Doesn't surprise me, given that it ain't the first time the Turks have screwed over the Kurds and its' not the first time they've screwed over others: just ask Armenia, for instance.

Personally, what the U.S. ought to say to Turkey is, "You want to stay in NATO? Help the Kurds...otherwise, get the hell out."