Erdogan slams US cooperation with YPG in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday expressed his bewilderment at Washington’s choosing of groups affiliated to the PKK as allies in the battle against Daesh in Syria.

The US has been leading a coalition of nations and groups against Daesh in both Syria and Iraq since 2014. Turkey, a coalition member, has however long objected to US support for the YPG group, which forms the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting Daesh in northern Syria.

Ankara views the YPG as a branch of the PKK, which is recognised as a terrorist organisation not only by Turkey, but also by a number of other nations and international bodies including the US and the EU.

“I do not understand how a country that believes in democracy can cooperate with one terrorist organisation to destroy another terrorist organisation,” Erdogan said at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York.

The Turkish president also pointed out that the YPG had received 3,000 truckloads of support that included tanks, armoured vehicles and ammunition.

“Who can guarantee that these heavy weapons arriving in northern Syria won’t be used against us tomorrow?” Erdogan asked.

As Syria’s northern neighbour, Turkey has had to deal with much of the blowback from the six-year civil war that has ravaged the country, accepting some 3 million Syrian refugees.

Turkey has also suffered from a spillover of violence from Syria over the years, with both Daesh and the PKK carrying out deadly attacks targeting security forces and civilians in the country.

The Turkish Army last year launched a joint operation with the Free Syrian Army to clear the Turkish border in Syria’s northern Aleppo from the threat of these groups.

Asked by programme moderator, John Micklethwait, if Turkey had set a date for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Aleppo, Erdogan responded saying that the Turkish operation had allowed 100,000 civilians living in the area to return to normality, but did not mention a pull-out date.

Instead, the Turkish president said that Turkey had spent around 30 billion dollars to support Syrian refugees in the country, and that the European Union had so far only donated 820 million euros of the promised 6 million euros in aid.  

''We are looking into a wide range of ways to move forward, and we will continue to do so,” he said.

De-escalation zones

Last week, Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed on the borders of a "de-escalation" zone in Syria's northern Idlib province for a period of six months during a meeting in Kazakhstan’s Astana.

According to a statement released by the Turkish foreign ministry, checkpoints will be established in the de-escalation zone will be manned by personnel from the three guarantor countries – Turkey, Russia and Iran.

Observers from the three countries will also be deployed to monitor ceasefire violations and to prevent clashes between the warring factions from erupting.

The observers and checkpoints will be coordinated by the Joint Coordination Centre, to be established by Iran, Turkey and Russia, and will include military and intelligence officers from the three countries.

The next round of the Astana talks is planned for late October.

Erdogan said he will meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin next week to discuss the plan.

"Right now, outside the border there are guard towers and stations of the Russian Federation. And inside, Turkey has stations at protection points," Erdogan said.

"This will continue until peace will be established over there," he said, without giving further details.