Will arming of YPG help open Kurdish corridor in Syria?
The US decision to provide heavy weapons to the YPG for the Raqqa operation provides hope to Kurds in Syria, but Turkey worries that the arms will be used to establish a Kurdish corridor.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Armored vehicles flying American flags, American soldiers posing for photos with Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militants and incessant reports on US-YPG relations have been the top news in Turkey in recent days, all suggesting that the United States was heading toward an alliance with the Kurds on the Syrian battlefield.
Turkish officials reacted sometimes harshly, sometimes more guardedly, to this alliance in the making. The US administration finally said the last word with statements from their officials that Washington had decided to give direct weapons assistance to the Kurds. Although American officials tried hard to explain that the weapons will be going to the Syrian Democratic Forces, everyone knows that the backbone of that force is the YPG. This radical decision by the Trump administration has naturally become a topic of international politics. But what impacts will this decision have on the ground in Syria? The YPG is the sole military force of the Kurdish region called Rojava. How will the YPG’s access to heavy weapons alter the power balances in the region?
