One terrorist group can't destroy another: Turkish PM

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Using one terrorist group to destroy another is unworthy of serious states, Turkey’s prime minister said Friday, criticizing a U.S. decision to arm the PKK/PYD to defeat Daesh in Syria.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, a banned terrorist organization in the U.S., Turkey, and the EU. But Washington has pushed back, instead calling the groups partners in the fight against Daesh in northern Syria.

“The YPG/PYD are whatever the PKK is to Turkey, a terrorist organization. One terrorist organization cannot be destroyed by another terror organization,” Premier Binali Yildirim told reporters about his brief meeting Thursday with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis in London.

Such support “is not an action suitable to serious states. We have told our concern about this to America for a long time. They are not happy with the present situation either. They told us there was a requirement. We do not agree about that,” he added.

Yildirim said the U.S. officials told Turkey that they can extend all kinds of cooperation to combat the PKK, such as intelligence-sharing and monitoring financial resources.

Excluding terrorists

He added that the issue of weapons for the PKK/PYD would be addressed in detail during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington next week.

“We hope the new U.S. administration will not repeat the mistakes of the old administration on both the FETO issue and the fight against Daesh in Syria,” Yildirim said.

Since last year, Turkey has pressed the U.S. for the extradition of Fetullah Gulen, the leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group blamed for last year’s defeated coup which martyred 249 people and left some 2,200 injured.

The premier also praised yesterday’s remarks by British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, in which he said he agreed the PKK/PYD should be excluded from the Raqqah operation against Daesh.

Yildirim said Turkey proposed cooperation for a more effective fight against the PKK, which is also a banned group in Britain.

Yildirim will end his London visit Friday evening.