UPDATE - PKK/PYD's ethnic cleansing in Syria 'unacceptable'

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS FROM STATEMENT

By Enes Kaplan, Aynur Ekiz and Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s National Security Council late Tuesday termed the PKK/PYD terror group’s ethnic cleansing in Syria “unacceptable”.

The council met under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in capital Ankara.

A written statement was released after the meeting.

"PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist organization’s efforts to carry out a covert ethnic cleansing by changing the demographic structure of Syria is against international law and human rights, and, therefore, it is unacceptable," the statement said.

Turkey will continue to take every necessary measure at the Turkey-Syria border area to ensure its own security, the council said.

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

While recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group, the U.S. has treated the PKK/PYD/YPG as an ally in its anti-Daesh efforts, despite its PKK ties documented by Turkey.

Since the PKK launched its terror campaign in Turkey in 1984, tens of thousands of people have been killed.

The statement said Turkish Armed Forces was successfully continuing its "observer mission" in Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone.

"It is observed that peace and security will literally be achieved when this mission is carried out near western Aleppo and Afrin," it added.

- NATO drill incident

The statement also commented on the recent incident during a NATO drill in Norway involving a civilian Norwegian official who depicted the Turkish president as an "enemy collaborator".

The statement said that such events harm solidarity principle of NATO, which forms the basis of the alliance.

"It is expected that investigations by Norwegian and NATO authorities would be expanded to include the echelons responsible," it said.

The statement said circles who try to use NATO for their own goals should not be permitted, adding that developments linked to the incident would be followed closely.

It added that such type of hostile attitudes and expressions against Turkish Republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and President Erdogan were unacceptable.

On Nov. 17, Turkey withdrew its 40 soldiers from NATO's Trident Javelin exercise in Norway after a civilian Norwegian official depicted President Erdogan as an "enemy collaborator".

A portrait of Ataturk was also shown in the "hostile leader list" during a computer-assisted exercise of the drill.