US’ Syria troop pullout shouldn’t serve PYD/YPG: Turkey

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has made clear that the process of withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria should not serve the terror group PYD/YPG, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in the capital Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “We’ve clearly conveyed that the process should not serve the separatist agenda of the PYD/YPG.”

Turkey has the power to single-handedly neutralize Daesh in Syria, Cavusoglu added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signaled that a cross-border operation against the terrorist PYD/YPG in Syria will happen soon. Since 2016, Ankara has carried out two similar military operations in northern Syria.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week made the surprise announcement that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from Syria, following a phone call with Erdogan in which the two leaders agreed on the need for more effective coordination over the war-torn country.

On the Yemen crisis, Cavusoglu said Turkey called on the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) contact group to hold a meeting in Istanbul on Jan. 10 to address the situation.

Yemen has been dogged by conflict since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, forcing the government to take up temporary residence in the coastal city of Aden.

The Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) and other groups which provide aid, including Turkey’s state Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), have recently launched campaigns to raise money to help the people of Yemen.