Turkey on Friday accused the United States of hypocrisy after USA commandos in Syria were pictured supporting a major ground offensive led by a Kurdish militia branded a terror group by Ankara.
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The minister said that the USA army soldiers were using stripes of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) terrorist organization, which is a Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist group, during military operations against the militants of the “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, which is unacceptable.
Cavusgolu made the comment at a news conference in the resort province of Antalya, which is hosting a United Nations Summit for least developed countries.
However, Washington sees the YPG as one of the most effective fighting forces against Islamic State (IS) jihadists inside Syria.
“Our suggestion to them is that they should also wear Daesh, al-Nusra and al-Qaeda insignias during their operations in other regions of Syria”, Cavusoglu said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State. Charles Lister, of the Middle East Institute, told AFP: “On a human level, I get it”.
He said Turkey and the United States were “effectively fighting two different wars in Syria”, with Washington focused on the fight against IS and Turkey still working to defeat President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Turkey on Friday accused the United States of hypocrisy after USA commandos in Syria were photographed supporting a major ground offensive led by a Kurdish militia.
Agence France-Presse released photos showing armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as US special operations in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa on May 25.
Ankara had raised the issue with the State Department.
“The US sees the YPG as a local actor who can be cooperated with in Syria”.
The United States, like the European Union, classifies the PKK as a terror group.
The American soldier was part of a force on frontline operations to take rural Raqqa province, in what is a probable build-up to an assault on the provincial capital, the de facto IS “capital” in Syria. The US also designates the PKK as a terrorist group but says the YPG is a “reliable partner” in its fight against IS.
The minister decried what he said was the approach of “a terrorist organisation I can use and a terrorist organisation I cannot”. Cavusoglu said Friday that the YPG is responsible for two recently bombings in Ankara that left dozens dead.
A statement released Thursday after a meeting of Turkey’s National Security Council complained the YPG and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD) had been allowed to open offices in EU cities including Prague, Stockholm, Berlin and Paris.
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The US says their function is to train and assist rebels in a non-combat role.
