We reject, in terms of both substance and language, the remarks made by US
Secretary of State Pompeo in an interview given to an online news channel
yesterday (3 January) about Turkey in relation to Syria. Secretary Pompeo’s
identification of the PYD/YPG terrorist organization with Kurds, if not
deliberate, indicates a worrying lack of information.
Turkey is determined to continue its fight against PKK/PYD/YPG and DAESH
terrorist organizations which pose existential threat to its national
security and target the political unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
Misrepresenting Turkey’s fight against a terrorist organization as an
attempt to target a particular group in Syria is totally unacceptable,
given that Turkey embraces the entire Syrian people, including Kurds. We
strongly condemn treating a terrorist organization as a partner in fighting
DAESH.
Turkey will continue to safeguard the rights of the Syrian Kurds both in
its fight against terrorism and in its efforts for finding a political
solution to the Syrian conflict. It should be recalled that Turkey is
currently hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian Kurds who fled the
oppression of PYD/YPG and cannot return to their own lands because of
PYD/YPG’s pressure.