Turkey to US: End all support for terrorists

The US has been asked to stop supporting the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria. Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization, Washington supports it to fight against the Islamic State.

“We tell all our interlocutors, especially the US, that the YPG is equivalent to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and the West) and we urge them to stop all support to terrorists,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said today.

The USA had called earlier today for a “de-escalation” in Syria, in reaction to the statements of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who yesterdaya threatened to launch a ground operation in northern Syria after a series of airstrikes against Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq and the fall of rockets on Turkish territory originating from Syria, APE-MPE reports, citing AFP.

The PKK is responsible

Ankara blames it PKK and the YPG as being responsible for the November 13 bombing in Istanbul, which killed six people and wounded 81 others. The organizations deny any involvement.

“We are calling for de-escalation in Syria to protect civilians and support the shared goal of defeating the Islamic State,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “We remain opposed to any uncoordinated military action in Iraq that violates its sovereignty,” he added.

And Russia today expressed hope that Turkey would show “restraint” and avoid using “excessive force” in Syria. Ankara announced on Sunday the launch of Operation Forked Sword, launching a series of raids against PKK and YPG positions in northern Iraq and Syria.

According to last night’s tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 37 people, including 18 members of the Syrian armed forces, have been killed by the raids in Syria. Two people were killed yesterday in the Turkish city of Karkamis by the launch of rockets from Syria.