US soldiers attend military ceremony of YPG fighters joining SDF in Syria
A number of U.S. soldiers
participated in a military ceremony of Syrian Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units
(YPG) militants joining the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria, images
have revealed.
Ankara considers the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed
wing, the YPG, as “terrorist” groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK),
and has long pressed Washington to stop its alliance with the group in the
fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
According to reports on Kurdish websites, around 250 female
YPG militants joined the SDF ranks in a military ceremony held in the Hasakah
province on May 5 after completing their training in the Karaçok province, which
also houses the Syrian Kurdish force's command center.
The military ceremony saw the participation of U.S. soldiers
who stood behind the SDF commanders and watched the ceremony.
Turkish warplanes had conducted airstrikes in the Karaçok
province and Mt. Sinjar in Iraq in late April, targeting the PKK, PYD and YPG
positions there.
The Turkish military said the air strikes, which local
governments as well as the U.S. and Russia were notified about in advance, were intended
to prevent the PKK from sending terrorists, arms, ammunition, and
explosives to Turkey.
In the wake of the air strikes, U.S.-led coalition forces
against ISIL began patrolling the Turkey-Syria border to prevent further
strikes.