Turkish officials are so furious that American special forces troops accompanying Kurdish militants in Syria are wearing their partners’ insignia on their uniforms that Ankara’s top diplomat suggested Friday that USA soldiers add Islamic State flags to their sleeves next.
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Tensions between the US and Turkey grew with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying Friday that it was “unacceptable” for USA soldiers to wear an insignia of a terrorist organization as America is an ally of Turkey.
Warren’s condemnation of the patch Friday ran counter to Pentagon statements Thursday, when Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook said it was normal for special operations troops to try to “blend in with the community to enhance their own protection”.
US special operations advisers sporting the insignia of the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit, the paramilitary unit with ties to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, were photographed while conducting operations alongside the unit outside of the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.
“If they (U.S. officials) say ‘We don’t see the YPG and these terrorist groups as the same, ‘ my answer is, that is a double standard and two-faced”, Cavusoglu said at a United Nations summit in Turkey.
In both conversations, Turkey reiterated that it was unacceptable for the U.S.to cooperate with the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, despite the fact that Ankara emphasized to Washington the link between the PYD and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The photos, which were snapped by a photographer with news service AFP, depict what appear to be fully-equipped U.S. Special Forces operators atop a pickup truck.
“The Arab fighters are not sufficient in numbers, nor do they have the capabilities to take on the hardened IS fighters defending the city”, he said.
“We do have special operations forces in Syria”, Cook said, adding that they are an “advise-and-assist mission” with forces that carry out the fight against ISIS and they “are not at the front line”.
The officials deny this is a change in the current US policy in which military personnel are not engaging in direct combat but can still be in harm’s way.
Photos of USA special forces wearing the insignia of the Kurdish YPG militia while fighting ISIS in northern Syria have put the USA in hot water with Turkey.
At the same time, the US considers the YPG to be one of its strongest allies on the ground in Syria.
Q: What exactly are the American forces doing?
“It is not acceptable for USA soldiers to wear YPG terrorist arm badges”.
As an example. US forces in Iraq are also serving as advisers and are not in combat. The group’s territory has shrunk considerably since then, but it remains entrenched in Raqqa, Syria, its de-facto capital, Iraq’s 2nd largest city of Mosul, and other smaller cities and towns. “And we’re going to continue to support them with our advise-and-assist operations there”.
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The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. “Special Operations Forces and their counterparts typically swap unit patches as a method to build trust”. US-backed Syrian fighters and Iraqi forces pressed twin assaults against the Islamic State group, in two of the most important ground offensives yet against the jihadists. Officials have said there are about 200 there now.
