News / Turkey

Erdogan irate over US envoy meeting with YPG in Kobani

Monday, 08 February 2016 9:18 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 08 February 2016 9:17 AM ]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo by AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been irked by a US envoy’s meeting with Syrian Kurds in the Syrian border town of Kobani, warning the US to choose either Ankara or the “terrorists” in the town as its ally.

Last week, senior US diplomat Brett McGurk, along with a delegation, met members of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is in control of strategic Kobani.

Erdogan reacted to the visit on Sunday, saying, “Is it me who is your partner or the terrorists in Kobani?” in a question apparently addressed to the US.

The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) along with its military wing, YPG, is considered by Turkey to be affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s and is considered by Ankara as a terrorist group.

The US special envoy met with YPG members after the PYD was excluded from peace talks for Syria in Geneva. Turkey had threatened to boycott the peace talks if PYD was invited.

“Do you accept the PKK as a terrorist organization? Then why don’t you list the PYD and the YPG as terrorist organizations, too?” Erdogan asked.

The Kurdish forces managed to retake full control of Kobani from Daesh in June 2015 for a second time, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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