Turkish lawmakers slam US on PKK/PYD deal with Daesh

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Lawmakers of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Wednesday criticized the U.S. over the deal between PKK/PYD and Daesh terrorist groups.

The deal allowed hundreds of Daesh terrorists to escape the besieged city of Raqqah.

"Syria will be the second Vietnam for America," said Metin Kulunk in a news conference on Wednesday.

Kulunk, a lawmaker from Istanbul province, said that a section in the U.S. administration wants further deterioration in Turkey-US relations.

He called on the U.S. to stop dealing with PKK/PYD terrorist organization. "If you want to take the control of the region, this has a cost. You take on Turkey, Iran and Russia."

"We are not a colony, but an independent country. The U.S should respect it," he said.

"The PKK will be cleaned from Raqqah, Afrin and Manbij [in Syria] soon then what will America do? With whom they will talk to?," he asked.

At the beginning of October, the PKK/PYD seized control of Raqqah, the de-facto capital of Daesh, from the terrorist group in a U.S.-backed military operation.

Kulunk said that the U.S. was making efforts to show the PKK as an “adorable entity” "in reply to a common move by Iran, Russia and Turkey" in the region.

- US cooperation with PKK/PYD

The BBC reported on Monday that the deal was struck between Daesh and the SDF, a U.S.-backed force that consists largely of PKK/PYD terrorists.

After speaking to many of those involved in the evacuation, the British broadcaster said a huge convoy consisting of around 50 trucks, 13 buses and more than 100 Daesh vehicles left Raqqah for Daesh-controlled territory to the southeast.

The report said Daesh also withdrew at least 10 vehicles loaded with arms and ammunition and the fighters included foreigners alongside Iraqis and Syrians.

In a news conference in the parliament, Ilyas Seker, lawmaker from northwestern Kocali province, slammed the U.S. for its cooperation with PKK/PYD terrorist organization.

Seker said that the deal between PKK/PYD and Daesh shows the cooperation between the two terrorist organizations.

The PYD and its military YPG wing are Syrian branches of the PKK, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed, including more than 1,200 since July 2015 alone.

The U.S. and the coalition have largely ignored the PYD/PYG links to the PKK, which the U.S., EU, and Turkey list as a terrorist group.

Most recently, the PKK/PYD, after declaring victory in Raqqah, released a video dedicating the triumph to Abdullah Ocalan, the convicted PKK terrorist leader jailed in Turkey since 1999.