American General Admits Re-branding the PKK (Terrorist Organisation) as YPG

General Raymond Thomas, the commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM), spoke at the Aspen Institute Security Forum on 21 July 2017.

General Raymond Thomas says that he personally discussed with the YPG changing their name to avoid the PKK marker since the PKK is an internationally recognized terrorist organisation. General Raymond Thomas was impressed that the YPG included the word "democratic" in their re-brand. They called themselves the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG added some Arab units to their mostly Kurdish forces and in combination with the re-brand, this helped the YPG enter the political fray over Syria, from which it had previously been blocked, says Thomas.

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