Turkey criticizes US backing of PKK/PYD Daesh deal

By Meryem Goktas and Kubra Chohan

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday that secret cooperation between the Daesh terror group and the PKK/PYD is 'extremely grave'.

In a written statement, the ministry said the evacuation of Daesh terrorists from the besieged city of Raqqa in Syria with the help of the PKK/PYD -- the Syrian offshoot of the PKK – is an “extremely grave and eye-opening revelation”.

“As we have emphasized on every occasion, the purpose of the PKK/YPG in Syria is not to fight against Daesh but to create illegitimate faits-accomplis on the ground, to occupy territories and to alter their demographic structures,” the ministry said.

“The deal sets a new example of the fact that fighting one terrorist organization with another would eventually result in these terrorist organizations colluding with each other,” it said.

The ministry also said it “deplores the statements of the spokespersons of the Global Coalition Against Daesh and the U.S. Department of Defense” that expressed their respect for the deal.

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon earlier Tuesday defended a PKK/PYD deal to allow hundreds of Daesh terrorists to escape Raqqa, which he defined as part of a “local solution to a local issue”, namely the siege of Daesh’s de facto capital in Syria.

The PKK/PYD is considered by Ankara as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror organization that has waged a more than 30-year war against the Turkish state.

More than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed brutal attacks in Turkey that include suicide bombings and rocket and gun attacks.

Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to thwart Daesh attacks.

The U.S.’s use of the PKK/PYD in Syria has been a long-standing contentious issue for Turkey, which has been subjected to a 33-year terror campaign by the PKK.