Erdogan accuses US of supporting Kurdish “terrorists”

The day before, Sunday February 14, Turkey accused the PKK of having executed 13 of its nationals, members of the security forces for the most part, which it had held captive in northern Iraq for several years. According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Turkish soldiers discovered 13 lifeless bodies in a cave in the Gara region, in northern Iraq, where Ankara has been carrying out an operation against the PKK since Wednesday, February 10, a group described as “terrorist” by Ankara and its Western allies.

The PKK acknowledged the deaths of a group of prisoners, but refuted Ankara’s version, claiming they were killed in Turkish airstrikes. The US State Department said Sunday to “deplore” the deaths. “If the information on the death of Turkish civilians at the hands of the PKK, an organization classified as terrorist, is confirmed, we condemn these actions in the strongest terms,” ​​he added in a statement. The statements by Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejecting the American condemnation reflect Ankara’s mistrust of Washington regarding its policy towards the Kurdish rebels.

If Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organization, it nonetheless supports Kurdish militias linked to it in Syria, as part of the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group. This support for the Syrian Kurdish militias of the YPG, which began under the administration of Barack Obama, has for several years been at the heart of the tensions that plague Turkish-American relations.

More than 700 arrests in Turkey

“You cannot be with the terrorists. If you want to side with one of the parties, be with us, ”added Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Washington. The losses announced on Sunday increased the pressure on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, the HDP, which the Turkish authorities present as the political showcase of the PKK. On Monday, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced that the security forces had arrested 718 people, including HDP leaders, suspected of links with the PKK. “A large number of weapons, documents and digital equipment belonging to the (terrorist) organization were seized during the searches,” added the Interior Ministry, adding that operations in 40 cities across the country were still in progress.

For its part, the HDP had expressed on Sunday its “deep sadness” after the death of Turkish nationals in Iraq, calling on the PKK to release its remaining prisoners. Turkey regularly carries out attacks in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq against the rear bases of the PKK, which since 1984 has been delivering bloody guerrillas on Turkish soil which has left more than 40,000 dead. These operations raise tensions with the Iraqi government, but the Turkish president repeats that his country intends to “deal” with the PKK in northern Iraq if Baghdad is “not in a position to do so”.

Hours after news of the thirteen Turks’ deaths was announced, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu vowed that Turkish forces would capture PKK military leader Murat Karayilan, believed to be in northern Iraq. “If we do not manage to capture Murat Karayilan to cut him into 1,000 pieces, let the people spit in my face,” he said.