A fighter of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) sits in an armoured vehicle in the northern Syrian town of Kobani January 28, 2015.
REUTERS
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says President Trump has told his Turkish counterpart that the United States will no longer supply arms to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Cavusoglu said Mr. Trump relayed his decision during a telephone conversation between the Turkish and U.S. leaders on Friday. Cavusoglu was present in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office during the telephone call.
Turkey considers the Kurdish Syrian fighters, known by the initials YPG, to be terrorists because of their affiliation to outlawed Kurdish rebels in Turkey. A U.S. decision to arm the fighters soured relations between the two NATO allies.
Cavusoglu said: “Mr. Trump clearly stated that he had given clear instructions and that the YPG won’t be given arms and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago.”
Mr. Trump indicated that he would be speaking with Erdogan on Friday, although the White House has yet to release a readout of the call. Ahead of the call, Mr. Trump said he would be speaking with the Turkish leader about how to bring peace to the Middle East.
In the past, Mr. Trump has sent his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner as an envoy to the Middle East for peace talks.
Mr. Trump is currently at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Thanksgiving holiday.
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