WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's administration announced Tuesday that it will arm Syria's Kurdish fighters "as necessary" to recapture the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, despite intense opposition from NATO ally Turkey, which sees the Kurds as terrorists. Turkey’s response will largely depend on whether they acknowledge a significant difference between the Kurdish YPG militia and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group of Arabs, Assyrians, and other groups led by the Kurds against ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Syrian regime. President Donald Trump on Monday authorized the Pentagon to provide the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit, known as the YPG, “necessary” equipment to bolster its coming fight to remove ISIS from Raqqa, the terrorist group’s de facto capital in Syria, said Dana W. White, a Pentagon spokeswoman. Dana W. White, the chief Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement that the arming was necessary to ensure that Raqqa could be taken “in the near future.”

“Yesterday, the president authorized the Department of Defense to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa, Syria,” she said, using the name of the umbrella group for Arab and Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The U.S. military has such a good relationship with the SDF that some American soldiers participated in an SDF ceremony recently at which some 250 female veterans of the YPG militia were inducted into Syrian Democratic Forces ranks. White said they’re “the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future.”

While White did not mention the kinds of arms to be provided to the Kurds, other officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armoured vehicles were possibilities. For now, at least, it does not appear the equipment will include heavy weaponry such as artillery or shoulder-fired missiles, Pahon said. Ms. White added that the United States would take steps to ensure that Turkey did not face “additional security risks.”

There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government, which considers the Kurdish force to be terrorists, and it remains to be seen whether the assurances the Trump administration is offering the Turks will be sufficient to ease the concerns of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump in Washington next week. And in Denmark earlier Tuesday, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he had useful discussions with Turkey and described the two countries as working out differences over a U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds in fighting Islamic State militants. Mattis said the administration intended to “work with the Turks, alongside one another, to take Raqqa down, and we’re going to sort it out and we’ll figure out how we’re going to do it.”

However, U.S. officials said Mattis was not signaling a new agreement with Turkey about the battle plan for Raqqa, and maintained the Trump administration is skeptical of Turkey’s claims that it can manage the liberation of Raqqa without Kurdish help. We’ll figure out how we’re going to do it.”

The Pentagon has provided military gear, such as AK-47s and ammunition, to the Syrian Arab Coalition, the non-Kurdish portion of the Syrian Democratic Forces, since 2016.
Despite opposition from Turkey, President Donald Trump authorizes an arms deal with the Syrian Kurds to assist the Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).