Allies should side with Turkey, not terrorists: Erdogan

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish president on Wednesday called on allies to "side with Ankara and not with terrorist organizations".

In a joint press conference with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Every development in Syria and Iraq is a matter of national security for us [Turkey]."

"We would like to believe that our allies will prefer to side with us and not with terrorist organizations," Erdogan added.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that U.S. President Donald Trump had approved the arming of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ahead of an attempt to drive Daesh from Raqqah, the last Syrian city held by the terror group.

The SDF is spearheaded by the PKK/PYD and its armed wing, the PKK/YPG. Turkey views both as the Syrian affiliates of the terrorist PKK, which has fought a 33-year war against Turkey and is also listed as a terror organization by the U.S. and EU.

However, the U.S. has used the PKK/PYD as its ally in Syria in combatting Daesh. Turkey has repeatedly called on the U.S. to end its ties to the PKK/PYD and offered to help take Raqqah.

The president said he would express his concerns in this regard at his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16, adding the same issue would also be brought up at the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on May 25.

"I believe that these meetings will ensure the stability of the region and will lead us to reach a conclusion compatible with the realities of Syria.”

Erdogan also said he hoped the U.S. government would "reverse" its decision to arm the PKK/PYD in Syria "before I go to America".

The president reiterated that the fight against Daesh terrorist organization "should not be carried out with the help of another terrorist organization".