News / Turkey

Ankara cooperating with militants in Syria: Demirtas

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 1:41 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 1:39 PM ]

Militants from al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front Takfiri group patrol Syria’s northern city of Aleppo in May 2015. ©AFP

The leader of Turkey’s main Kurdish party has accused the country’s military of collaborating with Takfiri militant groups inside Syria.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairman, Selahattin Demirtas, said in an interview with the Greek Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper on Wednesday that the army is cooperating with two extremist groups and is protecting militants as well as al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front Takfiri group in Syria.

The groups "cross fighters and weapons from Turkish soil (into Syria) with the cooperation of Turkish authorities," he said.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) ©AFP

Ankara is accused of actively training and arming Takfiri elements and buying smuggled oil from territories held by Daesh terrorist group.

Turkey has been among the major supporters of the Takfiri terrorists fighting to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011.

EU ignoring Ankara’s atrocities

Elsewhere in his remarks, the 42-year-old Turkish politician criticized the European Union for turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Turkey, denouncing the move as a doomed bid for a solution to the refugee crisis in Europe.

"Europe is closing its eyes to the trampling of human rights in Turkey and is preparing to succumb to (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan's threats and blackmail," Demirtas said but added that the policy is a “big mistake.”

"Erdogan is neither willing nor able to solve the refugee issue," he said.

Europe has been experiencing an unprecedented inflow of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.

Syrian refugees wait on the Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, Turkey, on February 1, 2016. ©AFP

Policies of major European powers are blamed by many for the unprecedented refugee exodus, as they have led to a surge in terrorism and war in the violence-hit regions, forcing more people out of their homes.

The EU has offered Turkey three billion euros (USD 3.3 billion) in return for its attempts to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in the continent via Turkey, which is hosting 2.5 million refugees from Syria and hundreds of thousands from Iraq.

The Turkish government accuses Demirtas’ HDP of backing the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

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