The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier yesterday launched a bitter attack on NATO ally the United States over its support of Syrian Kurdish groups, saying it was creating a “pool of blood” in the region.
As his dreams of imperial conquest by supporting terrorist groups laying waste to Syria crumbled to dust an angry and visibly frustrated Erdogan asked whether the United States was an ally or was working with groups Ankara lists as terror organisations.
Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia to be terror groups allied to the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inside Turkey, a position not shared by Washington.
“Hey America… As you have never recognised them (as terror groups) the region has turned into a pool of blood,” Erdogan said.
“Hey America! How many times have we had to tell you?” he said. “Are you together with us or are you with the PYD and YPG terror groups?”
Erdogan launched the attack in one of his regular speeches at the presidential palace to loyal municipal leaders known as muhtars that have become a forum for his most vehemently anti-Western comments.
“Is there a difference between the PKK and the PYD? Is there a difference with the YPG?” growled Erdogan. “We have written proof!”
“Allies don’t tell each other my enemy’s enemy is my friend. You must have principles. But there are no principles here.”
– ‘Friends can disagree’ –
His remarks escalated a row between Washington and Ankara over the role of Kurdish fighters in the struggle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria.
Turkey says the Syrian Kurdish groups are simply a branch of the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and has carried out a string of deadly attacks in Turkey in the last few months.
The dispute risks further complicating the search for a solution to Syria’s five-year conflict, drawing a wedge between two key members of the anti-IS coalition and driving another nail into the coffin of a process of peace talks.
In a further twist, a Syrian Kurdish group on Wednesday opened a representation in Moscow, which is currently in the throes of a diplomatic crisis with Ankara and is working to tighten ties with the Kurds.
Turkey on Tuesday summoned the US envoy to Ankara in protest after the US State Department said Washington did not recognise the PYD as a terror group and would continue to support its operations in Syria.
“Even the best of friends aren’t going to agree on everything,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday.
“Kurdish fighters have been some of the most successful in going after Daesh inside Syria,” he said, using another name for the Islamic State group.
The State Department’s deputy spokesman Mark Toner on Wednesday also sought to allay Turkey’s concerns.
“We view the PKK as a terrorist organisation, you know, but we make a clear delineation between the PKK and the YPG. We believe the YPG is focused thus far on combating Daesh in Syria, and we’ve supported them in that effort,” he told reporters.
Can Acun, a researcher with the Ankara-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, said Turkey was facing a “serious crisis” with the United States on the issue.
“We don’t know if the US is using the Syrian Kurds for short term tactical reasons or in the long term. If it’s the second, then bilateral relations will fray,” he said.
Air strikes by the Syrian regime and its Russian allies have sent tens of thousands more people fleeing to the border with Turkey, which is already home to some 2.5 million refugees from Syria and hundreds of thousands from Iraq.
But Erdogan blasted the response from members of the United Nations, saying: “UN, what are you useful for?”
“We have so far taken in three million people from Iraq and Syria and how many have you taken in? How many people has each country taken in? You are troubled by 300-500 people but we have taken three million.
Also read: “US must choose… Turkey or Syrian Kurds” Turkish autocrat Edrogan
