MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2019) Turkey is going to fight the People's Protection Units (YPG), not all the Kurds living in Syria, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said on Friday, criticizing the remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who equalized the YPG with the Kurds.
Earlier this week, Pompeo said that ensuring that the Turkish military do not massacre Kurds would be a key priority for the United States after withdrawal of its troops from Syria.
"We refute Pompeo's remarks about our country, which was made in an interview for one of the portals. Equalizing terrorists with the Kurds, if that was not made accidentally, shows lack of information, which is concerning ... We are firmly condemning the approach considering YPG as a partner in the struggle with the Islamic State [IS, outlawed in Russia]," Aksoy said.
The US-Turkish relations have suffered a setback amid Ankara's concerns over US support for the YPG. Ankara has also repeatedly accused Washington of failing to fulfill its promises regarding the withdrawal of the YPG from Syria's Manbij.
Ankara regards YPG as an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey.
