UPDATE - Coalition disapproves divisive symbols, images in Raqqa

ADDS PENTAGON STATEMENT ON BANNER

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S. Department of Defense on Friday condemned the raising of a banner of a jailed terrorist leader in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

"We condemn the display of PKK leader and founder Abdullah Ocalan during the liberation of Raqqa," Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Anadolu Agency, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party by its acronym.

On Thursday, a large banner of Ocalan was raised by the PKK/PYD in an iconic square in Raqqa.

Rankine-Galloway also emphasized that the PKK has been a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997, adding the U.S. will continue to see the PKK as a destabilizing actor in the region.

"The United States continues to support our NATO ally Turkey in its multi-decade struggle against the PKK and recognizes the loss of life Turkey has suffered in that conflict," he added.

On the same day, the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition said it does not approve of the display of divisive symbols.

"The Coalition is aware of reports of celebration and displays of Ocalan symbols in Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leadership did not sanction such display,” Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, told Anadolu Agency.

Dillon was referring to the raising of the large banner of Ocalan by the PKK/PYD.

"Furthermore, the Coalition does not approve of the display of divisive symbols and imagery at a time in which we remain focused on the defeat of Daesh in Syria," he said.

The PKK/PYD, the Syrian branch of the PKK, which has waged war against Turkey for more than 30 years, was among the U.S.-backed SDF that took control of Raqqa from Daesh earlier this week.

The taking of the eastern city -- considered Daesh’s de facto capital -- was marked by the unfurling of the huge banner of Ocalan in the main square.

However on Thursday, when asked by Anadolu Agency why a victory enabled by the U.S. was dedicated to a terrorist group, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana W. White declined to comment directly.

The U.S. has supported the SDF, which consists of the PKK/PYD and other groups, in fighting Daesh in Syria but has largely ignored its links to the PKK, which the U.S., EU and Turkey list as a terrorist group.

In declaring victory in Raqqa, the PKK/PYD also released a video dedicating the triumph to Ocalan, who founded the PKK in 1978. The head terrorist was jailed for treason in Turkey in 1999.

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