6. Department of State · Minor
Rethink U.S. support for YPG/PKK Kurdish forces to keep Türkiye aligned
Printed page 185 6. Department of State
“This includes a vigorous outreach to Türkiye to dissuade it from “hedging” toward Russia or China, which is likely to require a rethinking of U.S. support for YPG/PKK [People’s Protection Units/Kurdistan Worker’s Party] Kurdish forces, which Ankara believes are an existential threat to its security.”
What has happened
- Not started
Nothing found restricting U.S. support for the YPG/SDF. Congress moved the other way: the FY2026 NDAA (P.L. 119-60) conditions continued Syria train-and-equip authority on activities that "support the Syrian Democratic Forces and other Syrian groups and individuals in maintaining stability and security throughout the formation of a representative and inclusive Syrian government", and adds an annual report through 2028 on ISIS detention facilities "secured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)". No Federal Register document in the window mentions the PKK, the YPG or Kurdistan Workers' Party in this connection, and the FY2026 State-Foreign Operations act carries no SDF or PKK provision. Turkiye outreach did happen (Secretary Rubio's May 2025 travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye; the U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye doubling as Special Envoy for Syria; the September 2025 reopening of the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline), but that is the other half of the Quote, not the restriction it asks for.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Every source this Status rests on is allowlisted and was read in full; none of it was off the allowlist or unreadable.
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- U.S. support for YPG/PKK Kurdish forces
- ID
- 495