'Fight against Daesh/ISIS can't be won with another terrorist group's help'

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - The fight against Daesh/ISIS cannot be won with the help of another terrorist group, such as the YPG/PKK, Turkiye's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Attending a ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS in Marrakech, Morocco, Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter that he told fellow coalition members about Turkiye's "unwavering fight" against all terrorist organizations.

Though Cavusoglu did not single out any country, Turkiye has for years objected to the US arming and supporting the YPG/PKK terrorist group just south of its borders. Washington has argued that it uses the YPG/PKK to fight ISIS/Daesh terrorists, but Ankara says using one terror group to fight another makes no sense.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

​​​​​​​Turkiye was one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS a terror group.

Since it took the step in 2013, the country has been attacked by the terror group multiple times, with 315 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed assaults.

In response, Turkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

At the meeting, which brought together over 60 countries, Cavusoglu said he held talks with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, on the preparations for NATO's Madrid Summit in late June, along with bilateral relations and the current situation in Ukraine.

He said he also discussed bilateral relations in a separate meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt, as well as regional developments, particularly Palestine, Syria, and Ukraine.