MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2021) A spokesperson for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, Omer Celik, on Thursday criticized Twitter for giving blue verification badges to accounts linked to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Daily Sabah newspaper reported.
Turkish government refers to the PYD and other Kurdish organizations, namely the Kurdistan Workers' Party and Syrian Kurdish Self-Defense Forces (PKK/YPG), as terrorists. YPG is an armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance
According to Daily Sabah, Celik told reporters that Twitter does not provide its verification badges, which is meant to show that an account is authentic, to leaders of the partially-recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), while profiles linked to PYD are shown as verified.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and the alliance's Coordination and Military Operations Center, among other Kurdish-linked accounts, have verified blue badges.
At the same time, the account of TRNC President Ersin Tatar, who has over 126,000 followers on Twitter, does not have a blue badge.
