ANKARA
We should not give maneuvering room to terror groups including the PKK/PYD/YPG during the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, Turkey’s presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.
"Turkey is fulfilling and will continue to fulfill its responsibilities to ensure the safety of life and property of Syrians, including Kurds," Ibrahim Kalin told reporters after meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton and his visiting delegation.
Kalin stressed that Turkey's counter-terrorism operations continue to aim to ensure the safety of Kurdish people as well as other groups in the region.
Syrian Kurds and the terrorist PKK as well as its Syrian branch the YPG/PYD should not be confused or mentioned as if they were the same, said Kalin, adding that the issue was brought up during Tuesday's meeting with the U.S. delegation in the capital Ankara.
On Sunday, Bolton had said the U.S. will not withdraw troops from northeastern Syria without a Turkish government guarantee that it won’t attack “Kurdish fighters,” referring to the PKK/PYD terrorist group.
Turkish officials have rejected any equation of the terrorist group with ethnic Kurds. It has also criticized the U.S. working with the PKK/YPG -- including giving it weapons -- to fight Daesh, saying that using one terror group to fight another makes no sense.
In its 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives. The PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.
‘Aftermath of US withdrawal is key’
Kalin reiterated that Turkey welcomes the U.S. pullout from Syria, but cautioned that its aftermath is also important.
"What will be left behind and how, whether the [previously distributed] weapons will be collected or not, the fate of the U.S. bases and logistics centers there, and when and how the U.S. will end up its ties with the YPG, which has also become a serious cost for the U.S., are main important issues."
“Arguments such as ‘Turkey will slaughter Kurds [in Syria], Kurds will suffer' are PKK terrorist propaganda,” Kalin said. “A state like the United States should pay no heed to such claims.”
Last week U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is concerned that Turkey might “slaughter the Kurds,” equating Kurds with the terrorist PKK/PYD, in remarks firmly rejected by Ankara.
Kalin said that since Daesh took the Syrian city of Kobane in October 2014, Turkey had opened its gates to more than 200,000 Kurds.
He added that Turkey accepts migrants from Syria or Iraq, whatever their ethnic background, stressing that there also has been no discrimination in giving humanitarian aid to Syria.
Kalin said Turkey shows the ultimate sensitivity to the safety of Syrians, including Syrian Kurds, and added:
"No one should expect Turkey to give assurance to any terror group or legitimize them for any reason."
‘Terrorist PKK/PYD should vacate Manbij’
Kalin said Turkey may coordinate with anyone "but it will not seek permission from anyone."
"We are now beyond joint patrols [in the Manbij, Syria roadmap]" with the U.S., said Kalin, urging a complete withdrawal of the PKK/PYD, leaving Manbij to local elements.
Asked about two files Kalin reportedly gave to Bolton during the meeting Tuesday, he said the first detailed Turkey’s inclusivist policies towards Kurds in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.
The second file lays out the PKK/PYD/YPG's humanitarian crimes in Syria, he added.
“There are many human rights violations by the PYD/YPG terrorist group, such as oppression, torture, closing political parties, keeping children from going to school, and forced migration,” he said.
In December, after a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of American forces from Syria.
Turkey has repeatedly objected to U.S. support for the PYD/YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the terrorist PKK, as a "reliable ally" in Syria, which has included supplying it with arms and equipment.
