Turkey sees 'signs YPG provided safe corridor to Daesh'

By Etem Ceylan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish intelligence has verified signs that the YPG has provided Daesh with a safe corridor to get out of Raqqah, Daesh's de facto capital in Syria, Turkey's presidential spokesman said Friday.

"The National Intelligence Organization is monitoring this issue closely. There are some signs in this regard [that a safe corridor has been provided]. Some of them have been verified [by Turkish intelligence]," Ibrahim Kalin said in an interview aired live on private NTV network.

Kalin said this was not a new move as the PYD and the Daesh had done the same thing previously in Manbij.

"In fact this shows how terrorist organizations cooperate when it suits them," he added.

The Turkish government considers the PYD and its armed wing YPG to be the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a designated terrorist organization in Turkey and the U.S.

But the U.S. does not view the PKK/PYD similarly, instead relying on the group extensively in the battle against Daesh in northern Syria.

The YPG-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been Washington's principal partner in the anti-Daesh fight with U.S. support for the YPG threatening to upend relations between Washington and Ankara.

The PKK -- listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- has waged a 33-year terror campaign against Turkey that has led to more than 40,000 deaths.