U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis addresses a news conference during a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 16, 2017. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim publicly criticized the decision, saying Wednesday that the USA can't use one terrorist group to fight another.
A "forced withdrawal" of ISIS fighters contributed to the global anti-ISIS coalition-partnered ground forces retaking of the northern Syrian city of Tabqa on Wednesday, the Coalition has announced.
"We expect that this mistake is to be rectified", he said, days ahead of a meeting in Washington between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United States counterpart Donald Trump.
Mattis said that Washington will be cooperating with Turkey to liberate the Daesh-held northeastern Syrian city of Raqqah.
Turkish air power may not have anything to fear from the USA -provided weapons, but the YPG's strong presence along Turkey's southern border is a cause for concern.
It was the highest level talks between the two nations since Washington on Tuesday announced plans to back the YPG militia in an assault to retake the city of Raqqa from Islamic State. "A negative outcome will also emerge for the United States".
The US now provides air support for members of the SDF - a Kurdish-dominated and anti-Damascus alliance. They have largely surrounded Raqqah and are expected to begin an offensive soon. But the Kurdish YPG, which forms the backbone of the group, is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which Turkey, the USA and other Western nations view as a terrorist group.
The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation but undermines the Turkish government's view that the Syrian Kurdish YPG as an extension of the PKK. Talal Sillo, a commander with SDF, said no weapons have been delivered yet but noted the US -led coalition said a delivery was expected from weapons already in Syria with the worldwide coalition.
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The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, criticised the plan as vague and illegitimate. The U.S. and Russian Federation signed the memorandum in 2015 when Russian Federation began its air operations in the country.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Trump had authorized the arming and equipping of "Kurdish elements" of the SDF "to ensure a clear victory" in Raqqa.
But Washington's reassurances failed to assuage Ankara, which regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.
US President Donald Trump on Monday authorised the direct shipment of arms to the YPG to facilitate the takeover of Raqqa, drawing intense opposition from Turkey.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the move, saying "every weapon that reaches their hands is a threat toward Turkey", and that Turkey's president would raise the issue during a visit to Washington planned for next week.
The move has infuriated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Ankara.
Ilham Ahmed, a top official in the Syrian Democratic Forces' political office, tells The Associated Press Wednesday the decision means the SDF is the force designated to recapture Raqqa.
Turkish media said the three met McMaster at the White House on Monday but gave no details over the content of the talks.
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