US arming YPG ‘created a nightmare’ for Turkey: Senator

By arming the YPG group in Syria, Washington “created a nightmare for Turkey,” said a senior U.S. senator during a visit to the Turkish capital on Saturday. 

Underlining that the YPG/PYD is “clearly” tied to the PKK -- listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union -- Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that the U.S. strategy in Syria has the potential to cause harm to Turkey. 

The South Carolina senator stressed the importance of protecting Turkey and solving the problem the U.S. “created” for Ankara, referring to U.S. support for the terrorist YPG/PYD in the name of fighting Daesh terrorists.

Graham, a member of Congress since 1995 and a senator since 2003, serves on the Senate's Armed Services Committee.

Turkey has long objected to the U.S. giving support and weapons to the YPG/PYD, arguing that using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.

Turkey has said it will soon launch a counter-terrorist operation against the YPG/PYD in Syria, east of the Euphrates River, near the Turkish border.

There has been friction between Ankara and Washington over the upcoming operation amid the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people. The YPG/PYD is the group's Syrian branch.