Turkey will coordinate its possible operation against the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) which Ankara considers a terrorist organization, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Tuesday.
"There is no conversation now of the Syrian regime being a threat to us. There was an episode where they downed our plane, but this is not happening now. There is PYD/PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] now, this is where there could be a threat. If we launch an operation, we shall coordinate its parameters with our allies, with Russia in advance," he said.
The Turkish government is not against the participation of Kurds in the Syrian settlement and has handed Russia a list of Kurdish groups with whom it is ready to work with, Çavuşoğlu also said.
Ankara is opposing the participation in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers terrorist organisations associated with the banned in the country armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"There are different Kurdish groups in Syria. We are in contact with them. We are not against the Kurds, on the contrary, we are with them. But this does not apply to the terrorists. We spoke with Russia about this. In addition to YPG, there are many Kurdish groups, and we transferred this big list to them [Russia]. Iran is also against YPG, as it knows that they and the PKK are the same. Russia, even if it does not fully support our position, respects it," Çavuşoğlu told the NTV broadcaster.
