Turkey upset over US envoy's refusal to label PKK and YPG as 'terrorist groups'

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:00 A.M.) - The Turkish regime is upset over recent comments made by the U.S. envoy to Syria James Jeffrey in regards to the status of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

According to the state-owned Anadolu News Agency, Jeffrey stated during a teleconference on Wednesday that the U.S. does not classify the PKK and YPG groups as "terrorist organizations."

In response to his remarks, Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Wednesday that the U.S.’s effort to describe the YPG and its political branch the PYD as legitimate groups with no links with terrorism and the PKK was “futile”.

Turkey has often criticized the U.S.' continued support to groups like the YPG and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) inside Syria.

While the U.S. maintains that their mission with the YPG and SDF is to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, Turkey sees their presence as problem that threatens their national security.

The PKK has been at war with Turkey for three decades; they are officially currently outlawed inside the country.

 

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Posted from AMN with SteemPress : https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-upset-over-us-envoys-refusal-to-label-pkk-and-ypg-as-terrorist-groups/

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