ANKARA – The plans of the US-led coalition to form new “Border DefenseForce” have sparked angry reaction from Turkey as Ankara has repeatedlyaccused the US of arming some of Syrian Kurds, which the Turkish sideregards as terrorist groups.
The US is creating a “terrorist army” under the guise of border securityforces in northern Syria, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag saidon Monday.
“This is not the fight against Daesh and terrorism, but their support,”Bozdag wrote on his Twitter page.
[image: Turkey]Ankara’s resentment was prompted by the article published on the DefensePost news website on Saturday, in which the spokesman of the US-ledcoalition fighting against Daesh said that the coalition was engagedin training of a 30,000-strong force on the Syrian territory currentlycontrolled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to maintain securityin controlled area along the Syrian border.
According to the coalition, the half of the planned force will be retrainedSDF fighters, an alliance of militias in Syria dominated by the Kurdish YPG(People’s Protection Units), which Ankara regards as a terrorist groupassociated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), banned in the country.
On Sunday, a Turkish senior official told Reuters that it was reason whythe US charge d’affaires was summoned in Ankara on Wednesday, as relationsbetween Washington and Ankara remain strained due to US military supportfor the Kurdish YPG units.