Shoulder patches are the subject of a diplomatic incident between the US and Turkey.
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Speaking during an global conference in southern Turkey, Cavusoglu said Turkey had relayed its displeasure to USA officials in Washington and in Turkey, and he rejected explanations that the patches were for the soldiers’ protection.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently enumerated the YPG among the groups that should be supported by Russian and US air forces.
Warren indicated that the USA forces participating in the operation to capture a stretch of desert territory north of Raqqa will no longer attach the badges to their uniforms, saying that “corrective action” had been taken.
Moscow is backing Assad, although it has said it supports the Syrian Kurds in the struggle against Islamic State.
Turkey issued a stern rebuke Friday after images emerged of US ground forces wearing the insignia of a Syrian Kurdish militia during operations against Islamic State.
“They don’t prevent me from taking pictures”. They don’t seem to think that a photographer here is something weird. Some have a patch of them American flag on their sleeves. Others have the patch of a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey is offering to “join forces” with Washington for a special operation inside Syria on condition it doesn’t include a Syrian Kurdish militia blacklisted by Ankara but seen as an ally by the U.S., the foreign minister said.
He said the American troops might just as well have worn the logo of al Qaeda, the IS group or Boko Haram.
Following Turkey’s criticism, coalition spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said during a press briefing Friday that wearing the patches “was unauthorized and it was inappropriate and corrective action has been taken”. That fact has been “communicated to our allies”, he added.
Since then, around 500 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.
However, the practice has gone on for years among commandos as part of an effort to connect with the soldiers they are training.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated criticism of the patches Saturday and accused the US of not being “honest”, according to The Associated Press. “Those who are our friends, who are with us in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation… cannot, must not send their soldiers to Syria wearing YPG insignia”.
On Friday, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to discuss the photos, saying he did not want to talk about where they were located in Syria.
Speaking to reporters on board his airplane after a visit to the southeastern province of Diyarbakir over the weekend, Erdogan accused Moscow of transferring weaponry to the PKK via Iraq and Syria, the pro-government Star newspaper said.
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Turkey, a key United States ally against DAESH, has always been lobbying Washington for a different approach to combatting the terrorist group, calling for the establishment of a safe zone along its border in northern Aleppo.
