(NYT photo)Turkey objected strongly to US President Donald Trump’s decision to arm Kurdish forces in Syria, calling the plan unacceptable and amounting to support for terrorists. “This issue is a matter of existence or nonexistence for Turkey,” Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli told AHaber television on Wednesday. “This is creating a major trust issue between Ankara and Washington,” Mr Tol said in an interview. Those strikes “created further frustration in Washington,” which saw Turkey as slowing down the Raqqa operation, according to Mr Tol of the Middle East Institute. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also weighed in on Wednesday, saying that weapons handed over to the YPG are threats to Turkey.

Source: Bangkok Post May 10, 2017 12:22 UTC