US has told Turkey that YPG militia will not stay on in Raqqa: PM Yıldırım

ANKARA - Reuters

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The United States has told Turkey that the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) will not remain in the region after the operation to take Syria’s Raqqa from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on May 12.

Speaking to reporters in London where he is on an official visit, Yıldırım said Washington’s decision to provide weapons to YPG militants in the fight against ISIL would “harm relations” between the two NATO allies. 

However, he also said the U.S. had assured Turkey that “the region’s demographics would not change” as a result of the upcoming campaign on Raqqa, a key concern for Ankara.