Turkey warns U.S. and Russia over support to Syrian Kurds
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has complained to the U.S. ambassador about possible weapons aid to Syrian Kurdish forces and has also warned Russia not to support the militia group that is affiliated with Turkey's Kurdish rebels, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday.
Davutoglu said that the weapons could fall into the hands of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and be used against Turkey.
A Foreign Ministry official said Turkey summoned the U.S. and Russian ambassadors separately on Tuesday to convey Turkey's concerns.
The U.S. military said Monday that cargo planes had dropped small arms ammunition to Arab groups fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in northern Syria.
A local Kurdish official in the northern Syrian city of Kobani said the U.S. had provided 120 tons of weapons and ammunition to the main Kurdish militia fighting the ISIS in that area. The official, Mustafa Bali, said he did not know whether the supplies had been provided by air or over land. The U.S. military did not confirm the delivery of weapons or ammunition to Syrian Kurds in the last week.
"No one can guarantee that arms given to the PYD today, won't tomorrow fall in the hands of the PKK and used against Turkey," Davutoglu said, referring to the Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party.
"Turkey cannot accept any kind of cooperation with terror organizations that have declared war against Turkey."
Turkey and its allies, including the United States, have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization. The Syrian Kurdish militias however, have become a key U.S. ally, in the fight against the Islamic State extremists.