Turkey expects US to not arm YPG/PKK, says defense minister

Turkey expects the United States to take the same stance against the People’s Protection Units (YPG) as it has taken against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday.

The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed, including more than 1,200 since July 2015 alone.

Turkey's expectation from the U.S. is for it to not send weapons and ammunition to the YPG terrorist organization, Akar added.

The U.S has supplied the PYD terror organization and its armed wing, the YPG, with more than 5,000 truckloads of weapons to allegedly use in the fight against Daesh, despite Ankara’s warnings that they are the Syrian offshoots of the PKK terror organization.

Akar called a move by the U.S. to put bounties on three PKK terrorists "positive" but "belated."

The U.S. State Department earlier Tuesday put a bounty on three key PKK terrorists, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced.

Under the Rewards for Justice program, people who give information on the identification or location of PKK terrorists Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, and Duran Kalkan are eligible for rewards of $3-5 million.

The announcement followed U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Palmer’s official visit to the capital Ankara.