Trump tells Turkish president U.S. will stop arming Kurds in Syria
The  Trump  administration is preparing to stop supplying weapons to ethnic Kurdish fighters in Syria  the White House acknowledged Friday  a move reflecting renewed focus on furthering a political settlement to the civil war there and countering Iranian influence now that the Islamic State caliphate is largely vanquished.
Word of the policy change long sought by neighboring Turkey came Friday  not from Washington but from Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a news conference that  President Donald Trump  had pledged to stop arming the fighters  known as the YPG  during a phone call between  Trump  and  his  Turkish counterpart  Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
" Mr. Trump  clearly stated that  he  had given clear instructions  and that the YPG won't be given arms and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago " the Associated Press quoted Cavusoglu as saying to reporters following the call.
"Consistent with our previous policy   President Trump  also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria  now that the battle of Raqqa is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return " the White House statement said  referring to the recent liberation of the Syrian city that had served as the Islamic State's de facto capital.
The phone call between Trump and Erdogan followed a summit on Syria held this week in Sochi  Russia. It was attended by Erdogan  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Russia and Iran backed the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and helped Syrian forces to rout the Islamic State.
The  Trump  administration is preparing to stop supplying weapons to ethnic Kurdish fighters in Syria  the White House acknowledged Friday  a move reflecting renewed focus on furthering a political settlement to the civil war there and countering Iranian influence now that the Islamic State caliphate is largely vanquished.
Word of the policy change long sought by neighboring Turkey came Friday  not from Washington but from Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters at a news conference that   [TGT] had pledged to stop arming the fighters  known as the YPG  during a phone call between  Trump  and  his  Turkish counterpart  Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"  [TGT] clearly stated that   [TGT]   had given clear instructions  and that the YPG won't be given arms and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago " the Associated Press quoted Cavusoglu as saying to reporters following the call.
"Consistent with our previous policy   President Trump  also informed President Erdogan of pending adjustments to the military support provided to our partners on the ground in Syria  now that the battle of Raqqa is complete and we are progressing into a stabilization phase to ensure that ISIS cannot return " the White House statement said  referring to the recent liberation of the Syrian city that had served as the Islamic State's de facto capital.
The phone call between  [TGT]  and Erdogan followed a summit on Syria held this week in Sochi  Russia. It was attended by Erdogan  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Russia and Iran backed the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and helped Syrian forces to rout the Islamic State.