Published 07:06 IST, February 16th 2021
Turkey accuses US of backing 'terrorists' after Turk soldiers, police killed in Iraq
“Did you not say you don’t support the PKK, the YPG, or the PYD? You are with them and behind them pure and simple,” Turkey President Erdogan said berating US
Turkey on February 14 accused the United States of backing Kurdish militants after the Turkish army retrieved bodies of 13 soldiers, police and civilians abducted by the Kurdish militants in Gara, northern Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing his ruling party on Monday accused the US of lending support to the insurgents linked to the PKK, which Turkey considers to be terrorists. “Did you not say you don’t support the PKK, the YPG, or the PYD? You are with them and behind them pure and simple,” Erdogan told a presser, berating US administration, following a statement by the State Department statement that condemned the hostages' killings. “If we are together in NATO, and if we are to continue our (alliance) in NATO, you have to be sincere toward us,” Erdogan said, as cited by Associated Press. “You must not take the side of the terrorists. You have to be on our side,” he asserted.
Calling US' statement condemning the Kurdish armed group’s assassination of Turkish soldiers, police personnel, and other captives a “farce”, the Turkish president summoned the United States ambassador to Ankara. Furthermore, in a televised address, Erdogan denounced the US’ continued support for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdish militia in neighbouring Syria, as he questioned the United States policies. “You said you did not support terrorists, when in fact you are on their side,” the Turkish president said in his remarks on state television. US and Turkey’s Western allies, sent military assistance to PKK’s YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces on Sunday as Turkey launched a military offensive against rebel groups.
[American military in the village of Khirbet Ammu, east of Qamishli city, Syria. Credit: AP/file photo]
US' miliatry assistance to YPG
In the footage that was shot by on-ground reporters in Qamishli, Syria, dozens of US military trucks, including the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle used by the UK Special Forces, were seen arriving in northeastern Syria. However, the US defended the military intervention citing its efforts to eliminate a resurgence of the Daesh and ISIS terror group in Syrian regime-controlled areas. Idlib, a crucible of the entire conflict in Syria has been under siege by Assad regime forces and its allies. US has partnered with militias PKK, dubbed as ‘terrorists’ by Turkey, including PKK-linked Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (Kurdish acronym YPG) that has launched an incursion against Turkish troops since 1984, which has impacted Turkey and US bilateral relations.
Updated 07:06 IST, February 16th 2021