Pentagon ‘will keep cooperating with YPG against ISIL’

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon has stated that the United States will continue to cooperate with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militant group dominated by the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), an armed group viewed as a terrorist by Turkey.

“We are working with the SDF. We work to help them focus on fighting ISIL. That is our sole responsibility, our sole commitment,” said Pentagon Spokesperson Dana White during an Oct. 19 briefing, responding to a question from a reporter from Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

The reporter asked about the display of a large photo of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Raqqa, following its recent liberation from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“We’ll continue to work by, with, and through the SDF to ensure that we defeat ISIS,” White added.

Turkey insists that its NATO ally the U.S. should drop its cooperation with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria and its armed wing, the YPG.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S.