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| Top Turkish Diplomat Assails U.S. Decision to Arm Syrian Kurds | Top Turkish Diplomat Assails U.S. Decision to Arm Syrian Kurds |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ANTAKYA, Turkey — The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, criticized the United States decision to arm a Syrian Kurdish militant group to aid in the battle against the Islamic State, saying that every weapon the group obtains is a threat to Turkey, the Turkish news media reported on Wednesday. | ANTAKYA, Turkey — The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, criticized the United States decision to arm a Syrian Kurdish militant group to aid in the battle against the Islamic State, saying that every weapon the group obtains is a threat to Turkey, the Turkish news media reported on Wednesday. |
| Mr. Cavusoglu, speaking in Montenegro, echoed an earlier statement from another minister, who called the decision to arm the group a “wrong” move that could harm Turkey. | Mr. Cavusoglu, speaking in Montenegro, echoed an earlier statement from another minister, who called the decision to arm the group a “wrong” move that could harm Turkey. |
| The group, the People’s Protection Units, known by the Kurdish abbreviation Y.P.G., is fighting alongside Syrian Arab forces against the Islamic State. But Turkey considers it a terrorist organization. | The group, the People’s Protection Units, known by the Kurdish abbreviation Y.P.G., is fighting alongside Syrian Arab forces against the Islamic State. But Turkey considers it a terrorist organization. |
| “Every weapon that goes to Y.P.G. is a threat against Turkey,” Mr. Cavusoglu said, according to the pro-government newspaper Sabah. “The United States knows our opinions well. In our Washington visit, we will share those reasons with Trump. Our president will meet Trump himself.” | “Every weapon that goes to Y.P.G. is a threat against Turkey,” Mr. Cavusoglu said, according to the pro-government newspaper Sabah. “The United States knows our opinions well. In our Washington visit, we will share those reasons with Trump. Our president will meet Trump himself.” |
| So far, there has been no public statement on the matter from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who plans to visit Washington on May 16 and 17, and little coverage of the decision in the official Turkish news media. | So far, there has been no public statement on the matter from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who plans to visit Washington on May 16 and 17, and little coverage of the decision in the official Turkish news media. |
| That suggests a more muted response than might have been expected, given that the United States is a crucial ally of Turkey, and that the group the Americans plan to arm is viewed by the Turkish government as inseparable from the Kurdish insurgents it considers its worst enemy. | That suggests a more muted response than might have been expected, given that the United States is a crucial ally of Turkey, and that the group the Americans plan to arm is viewed by the Turkish government as inseparable from the Kurdish insurgents it considers its worst enemy. |
| The first official criticism came from another official, Nurettin Canikli, who is not usually a front-line spokesman on government policy. | |
| “We cannot accept the presence of terrorist organizations that would threaten the future of the Turkish state,” Mr. Canikli, a deputy prime minister, said an interview with the private broadcaster A Haber. “We hope the U.S. administration will put a stop to this wrong and turn back from it. Such a policy will not be beneficial; you can’t be in the same sack as terrorist organizations.” | |
| Analysts said there were several reasons the Turkish government might play down the event: It could be looking for concessions from the United States to make up for the decision; it could be trying to reassure its supporters or to de-emphasize the embarrassment that came from the decision being announced just as Turkish officials were arriving in Washington to lobby against it. Or, Mr. Erdogan could be waiting to respond until his meeting with Mr. Trump in the White House on May 16. | Analysts said there were several reasons the Turkish government might play down the event: It could be looking for concessions from the United States to make up for the decision; it could be trying to reassure its supporters or to de-emphasize the embarrassment that came from the decision being announced just as Turkish officials were arriving in Washington to lobby against it. Or, Mr. Erdogan could be waiting to respond until his meeting with Mr. Trump in the White House on May 16. |