Turkey Slams France for Cooperating With Kurdish Militias in Syria - Foreign Minister
Ankara condemns France's close cooperation with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday at a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is currently on a visit to Ankara
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2019) Ankara condemns France's close cooperation with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday at a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is currently on a visit to Ankara.
"We don't find the close cooperation of France with the YPG ... appropriate. We observe that this has reflections on many of our issues, including cooperation within NATO," Cavusoglu said, as quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper.
According to the Turkish foreign minister, France cannot be helping Turkey to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, while at the same time cooperating with the YPG, which is viewed by Turkey as a PKK affiliate.
Ankara claims that Kurdish militias operating in the north of Syria pose a threat to national security. In January 2018, Turkey launched a military operation in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin against the US-backed YPG.