According to Reuters, citing sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ankara has summoned the US charges d’affairs over the situation in Syria.
The Turkish authorities and Washington haven’t yet officially confirmed the information; however, Ankara has repeatedly slammed the US support and arms supplies for the Kurdish militia fighting against terrorists mostly as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) rebels.
In December 2017, the US has announced its decision to halt arms supplies to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units as was promised earlier to the Turkish leadership. However, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz told Sputnik that Washington was yet to prove it is cutting its arms supplies to Syrian Kurds with documented evidence as the statements from White House continued to differ on the issue.
Relations between Washington and Ankara remain strained over a number of differences, particularly on the US military support for the YPG units, which have been fighting Daesh terrorist group in Syria.
Ankara considers the YPG to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a designated terrorist organization in Turkey, that has fought a protracted armed struggle against Turkey to achieve independence or autonomy.