US in crisis with Turkey over its support for Syrian Kurds

Washington supports the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria despite Turkey’s concerns, the US State Department stated Thursday in response to Turkish threats to attack the Kurdish militia if it does not leave Manbij. Ankara declared the militia a terrorist group and voiced rage over its inclusion in US plans for a Raqqa offensive. The Department spokesman Mark Toner commended the Kurds’ battlefield successes: “I think they’ve liberated some 6,000 kilometers and more than 100 villages from ISIS around Raqqa.”