“If you think you can finish off Daesh [Arabic pejorative for IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] with the YPG and PYD, you cannot, because they are terrorist groups too,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Turkish television, Reuters reported on Friday.
The Turkish strongman then went further, saying that the US has already sent more weapons to Kurdish militia which he described as “terrorist groups.”
“Three days ago America dropped two plane loads of weapons in Kobani for these terrorist groups,” Erdogan said, adding that he had discussed the issue with US Vice President Joe Biden, who had claimed to be unaware of the arms supplies.
Two years ago, US forces air-dropped arms and munitions to Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) militants fighting against IS in and around the Syrian town of Kobani, with half of those weapons later being seized by Islamists, according to Erdogan.
The Turkish president argued in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday that Washington is “doing wrong before the eyes of the world” by delivering weapons to the Kurds.
“By giving them weapons, you’re endangering our future,” he said, adding that the US-led coalition could carry on without significantly relying on Kurdish allies. Read More
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