05 April 2018•Update: 05 April 2018
By Merve Aydogan
ANKARA
Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister on Thursday called on the country's allies to not train YPG/PKK terrorists.
"We do not want to see any of our allies' soldiers training YPG terrorists," Omer Celik told reporters after his meeting in Paris with his French counterpart Nathalie Loiseau and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Celik said Turkey and France share "common views" on a number of matters in Syria.
"What we are doing [in Afrin] is countering terrorism. We would not have to intervene if the countries safeguarding terrorists had withdrawn [their support to terrorists] [...] France is our ally but we do not want to hear a sentence such as one claiming 'Afrin is occupied'," he said.
He reasserted that Turkey is not part of the conflict in Syria and said his country cannot be evaluated along with the countries that are part of the conflict.
Le Drian last month claimed that the Afrin operation is a "deep incursion" which is "not justified."
"If French soldiers are training PYD/YPG, we will perceive this as support to terror group," Celik said, and called on French allies to not repeat "the same mistakes that the Americans made in Syria."
Turkey on Jan. 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey's borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
In addition, in a meeting last week with a terrorist PYD/PKK-led SDF delegation at the Elysee Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron assured the SDF of France's support against Daesh, according to an official statement, and also claimed that the SDF had “no operational link with this terrorist group,” meaning the PKK.
However, as Turkey has documented, the PYD/PKK and SDF are actually the Syrian branches of the terrorist PKK, recognized by Turkey, France, and the EU as a terrorist group.
"If France is seeking for a partner or an ally there [in Syria], then there is Turkey. YPG or PYD cannot be France's partner... Those welcomed at the Elysee Palace are the senior members of terror organization. These individuals are the ones behind the practices that cause suffering to Syrian people," Celik said.
In its 30-year terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives.
Ankara has numerously warned against international actors cooperating with such groups as the PYD/PKK, YPG/PKK, and SDF/PKK, as they are just the PKK under different names.
