BERLIN
Germany will not arm Syrian Kurdish forces fighting ISIL because of the risk of weaponry falling into the wrong hands, the country’s foreign ministry said.
"The risk of the seizure of German weapons by the ‘wrong’ groups is way too big,” Deputy Spokeswoman Sawsan Chebli told a press conference in Berlin on Monday.
Chebli said the situation in Iraq, where Germany is sending military aid to the Kurdish Regional Government with the consent of the federal Iraqi regime, is different to Syria, where more than 100 armed groups are fighting each other.
ISIL, as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is known, was already in control of parts of Syria when it extended its reach into Iraq in June.
Last month the German government decided to supply military equipment, including arms and ammunition, to Iraqi Kurds but ruled out joining airstrikes or sending troops to the region to fight ISIL. The Iraqi shipments will start next week.
The military aid will include arms for 4,000 Peshmerga - 4,000 G3 rifles and 1 million rounds of ammunition, 4,000 P1 pistols with 500,000 bullets, 20 Milan anti-tank systems and 300 missiles, 100 bazookas, 5,000 grenades and 50 military vehicles.
However, arming the YPG, the Syrian wing of Kurdistan Workers' Party, is more difficult as the party, known as the PKK, is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU.
Some German politicians have suggested a new approach towards the PKK to recognize its role in confronting ISIL.
Chebli described the recent influx of refugees into Turkey, more than 130,000 have fled ISIL attacks around Kobani since Friday, as "worrying."
Germany will organize a conference on October 28 to discuss how the burden of Syria’s neighbors, who have taken in the greatest number of refugees, can be alleviated. Turkey and Lebanon will be invited to the conference, Chebli said.
www.aa.com.tr/en
