Turkey refuses to join Raqqah operation with PKK/PYD

Deputy prime minister says liberation of Daesh city should be carried out with 'moderate opposition'

By Yildiz Aktas, Mumin Altas and Aynur Ekiz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will not join a campaign to take Daesh’s Syrian stronghold if it involves the PKK/PYD terror group, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus has said.

Any operation to capture Raqqah should involve “moderate opposition” forces in Syria, he added.

“Turkey will also support such an operation,” Kurtulmus told Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk on Wednesday. “ However, if you are saying ‘We will bring in the PYD while taking Daesh away’, Turkey will never allow it. We will not be involved in such an operation.”

He highlighted the liberation of Al-Bab and Jarabulus -- conducted by the Free Syrian Army with the backing of Turkish armed forces -- as models for seizing Raqqah.

“We suggest implementing that model all across Syria,” Kurtulmus added. “That is our expectation from the international community.”

He added: “If peace is not established in Syria, there will be no regional peace. And if there is no regional peace, there will be no global peace.”

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