Turkey: US pledges to stop arming Syrian Kurds

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US President Donald Trump on Friday pledged that Washington will cease providing weapons to the People's Protection Units (YPG) in a phone call with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara that the two leaders discussed over the phone the Sochi summit, Syria crisis and bilateral ties.

Trump gave his assurance after Erdogan reaffirmed Ankara's concerns over the US continued delivery of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to the YPG, the minister said.

"Lately, we have seen that some armored vehicles were given to them," he said.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani together with his counterparts, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, attend a joint news conference following their meeting in Sochi, Russia November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Turkey considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, the Syrian affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a terrorist organization listed by Turkey, the US and the EU, while the US supports the PYD as its ally on the ground in combating the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

The Turkish minister welcomed Trump's assurance, saying Turkey wants to see the decision being implemented.

The two presidents also exchanged views on the recent Sochi summit with the participation of the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey, said Cavusoglu, voicing Ankara's opposition to the YPG's participation in any peace conference.

Erdogan also called for the US to completely resolve the visa issue against Turkey, Cavusoglu added.

President Erdogan tweeted and posted a meeting photograph in his office following the phone call.

"I had a fruitful phone conversation with US President Donald Trump today," he said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish National Intelligence Organization Chief Hakan Fidan and Presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin were also seen during the phone call in the photo.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency