US' latest move on terrorist YPG/PKK seeks to 'legitimize' outlawed group, says Turkiye

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye on Friday blasted a US move to exempt certain terrorist-controlled areas in northern Syria from its sanctions on the Assad regime, saying it seeks to whitewash the terrorist YPG/PKK.

The decision is "an attempt to legitimize" the terrorist group, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press conference alongside Christophe Lutundula Apala, the Democratic Republic of Congo's deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

The move is arbitrary and “lacks objective criteria,” he added.

The YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK, remains in control of large swathes of northeastern Syria with US backing.

The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in Turkiye and the US. But Washington has refrained from similarly designating the YPG /PKK and continues to partner with it in the region against the Daesh/ISIS terror group despite adamant protests from Ankara.

The US claims the YPG/PKK is an “ally” in the fight against ISIS/Daesh, but Turkiye says using one terror group to fight another makes no sense.

Separately, on Thursday’s attacks by PKK sympathizers on Turkiye's Consulate General in Paris, Cavusoglu urged French authorities to take "concrete legal steps" against the terrorists.

The late-night attack with firework-type explosives damaged a window and the exterior wall of the consulate building

The Paris attack comes close on the heels of PKK supporters attacking a children’s festival last Sunday in Basel, Switzerland.

After the Swiss attack, Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said such incidents demonstrate that PKK terrorism has “engulfed Europe like poison ivy and that a multidimensional effort is necessary to counter this global threat.”

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by the EU, but Turkiye has complained that many European countries tolerate its presence and allow it to recruit and sell drugs to fund its attacks.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.