Kurdish supporters hail Donald Trump after key arms decision

The president said he would take up the issue during a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on May 16.

All but ignoring the unfurling drama over Russian Federation and the US election, President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to advance prospects for cooperation between the former Cold War foes in Syria and elsewhere in a rare Oval Office meeting with Vladimir Putin's top diplomat.

-Turkish relations. In March, the USA deployed troops to Manbij, Syria, to act as a buffer between feuding Turkish and Kurdish forces.

The U.S. sees the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.

A top Syrian Kurdish official hailed the USA decision to step up military aid, saying it would "legitimize" the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes Arab fighters. But the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies are starkly at odds over their positions toward Kurdish militants operating in northern Syria, known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG.

Ankara considers the Kurdish fighters, known as the YPG, to be terrorists and an extension of outlawed Kurdish insurgents in Turkey known as the PKK.

Earlier, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey supports the launch of missile attack by the US Navy on the Syrian air base.

While Turkey is a member of the US -led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Erdogan has drawn closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months. The zones would not cover areas where the USA -led coalition is fighting the Islamic State group, but enforcement and other questions remain unanswered.

A US-backed alliance on Wednesday captured Syria's Tabqa and its nearby dam from the Islamic State group, a day after Washington said it would arm the force's Kurdish fighters. "It can not continue with its two-faced policies", said MHP Deputy Chair Erkan Akçay. He did not expect any significant blowback from Ankara, as "there's not really much they can do".

In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said Trump had authorised the arming of Kurdish fighters within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) "to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqa".

As the decision to supply heavier weapons was announced, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the U.S. "reassures the people and the government of Turkey that the United States is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally".

US officials have also tried to assure Turkey that the Kurdish fighters will not play a role in stabilizing the city after the offensive, instead leaving that task to local Arabs.

The UN has warned damage to the Tabqa dam - Syria's largest - could lead to massive flooding, and a source who works with the dam's technicians said they had fled the structure as fighting drew near in recent days.

In her second statement, White said "equipment" provided to the YPG will be "limited, mission specific and metered out incrementally as objectives are reached".

Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana White tried to allay Turkey's concerns, saying that the the United States fully supported returning Raqqa to Syrian Arabs, not the Kurds.

"We have very open discussions about options and we will work together, we will work out any of the concerns".

In reference to the PKK, Mattis said Turkey was "the only North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally" confronting an insurgency on its own ground, and he vowed that the United States would work closely with Turkey to defend its southern border.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim slammed Wednesday Washington's decision to arm a Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), saying it "unacceptable".

US -backed Syrian militias said they fully captured the town of Tabqa and Syria's largest dam from Islamic State on Wednesday, a major objective as they prepare an assault on Raqqa city. "Otherwise, the outcome won't only affect Turkey, a negative outcome will also emerge for the United States", he said. Once Raqqa is taken from ISIS, it the USA plan is to turn it over to the governance of local Syrian Arabs.

Any further military action could also potentially complicate the offensive on Raqqa, the Islamic State's symbolic capital and its last major stronghold after the Iraqi city of Mosul, which is besieged by USA -backed Iraqi forces. "This is not something acceptable for Turkey", Tezcan reportedly said.