"We are seriously concerned to see U.S. flags in a convoy that has YPG rags on it,” Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying prior to him departing on a flight to India on Sunday. “We will mention these issues to President [Donald Trump] during our visit to the United States on May 16.”
Videos emerged on Friday showing armored vehicles flying US flags in a convoy with vehicles flying People's Protection Units (YPG) banners, claiming to be near the town of Darbasiyah in northeast Syria near the Turkish border. The reports came on the same day that the Pentagon’s spokesperson said Trump had delegated authority for the use of force in Iraq and Syria to the defense secretary.
A YPG commander said on Friday that US forces would begin monitoring the situation along the Syria-Turkey frontier, according to Reuters.
On Tuesday, photos published by AFP depicted US officers from the US-led coalition visiting YPG fighters at the site of Turkish airstrikes near a northeastern Syrian Kurdish town (Derik in Kurdish, Al-Malikiyah in Arabic). Derik is about 130 kilometers east of Darbasiyah.
The pictures also show relatives of the YPG fighters visiting the aftermath of the bombardment at nearby Mount Qara Shouk.
“Twenty of our fighters were killed and 18 more injured as a result of the Turkish airstrikes,” YPG spokesperson Redur Xelil said on Tuesday, referring to the strikes at Qara Shouk.
Erdogan also told reporters that Ankara is concerned by the photos showing US soldiers attending the funeral of YPG fighters who were killed by Turkish airstrikes in northern Syria last week.
"If we are against global terrorism, then we need to tell them [U.S.] about these issues,” Erdogan said.
Turkey believes that the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are one in the same, and the group uses the mountainous border region to launch attacks into Turkey.
The Turkish military has “retaliated” to a rocket attack on a Turkish border post, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported on Saturday, adding that the army said it had killed 11 militants.
A previous statement, reported on by Hurriyet, said 11 Turkish border posts had been subjected to 13 attacks from areas controlled by YPG.
The Turkish president also warned that if countries targeted by terrorism do not work together “then tomorrow it will strike at another ally.”
Turkey is a member of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition. The YPG is a component within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a "stalwart" partnered force, according to Coalition spokesperson US Col. John Dorrian.
