Ankara slams U.S. for backing Syrian Kurdish militia

U.S. support for the YPG has been a major sticking point between Washington and Turkey
File photo shows fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) operating around Kobani, Syria.
Thursday, 12 January 2017 21:02

President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday nobody had the right to claim that the Syrian Kurdish YPG has no links with Kurdish militants in Turkey, after the U.S. military retweeted a statement from a YPG-dominated alliance suggesting no ties.

"Those who were shedding blood under the Islamic State flag until yesterday have now emerged with a PYD, YPG identity. Nobody has the right to claim they have nothing to do with the PKK," Erdoğan told a meeting in Ankara.

Ankara views the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey. 

KALIN LASHED OUT AT THE U.S. FOR BACKING YPG

Erdoğan's spokesman earlier lashed out at the U.S. military on Thursday after it re-tweeted a statement by a Kurdish-dominated alliance it backs in Syria saying it had no links to Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish state.

"SDF confirms that it has no affiliation or ties to PKK," U.S. Central Command said on Twitter, re-tweeting a statement by the SDF in which it said it was not part of the PKK and wanted a strong relationship with neighbours including Turkey.

"Is this a joke or @CENTCOM has lost its senses?," Erdoğan's spokesman, İbrahim Kalın, replied. "Do you believe anyone will buy this? The U.S. must stop trying to legitimize a terrorist group."

The Syrian Democratic Forces, the main U.S. partner on the ground in Syria in the fight against Islamic State, includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia.

Meanwhile, Turkey hopes the incoming U.S. administration under President-elect Donald Trump will "correct the mistake" of allying with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State, Defence Minister Fikri Işık said on Thursday.