Russian senator backs Erdogan's criticism of coalition

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

A Russian senator Wednesday voiced support for the Turkish president’s argument that the U.S-led coalition has supported the terrorist YPG, PYD, and Daesh.

"[President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is right," Senator Aleksey Pushkov, who heads the Russian Upper House Commission for Information Policy, said on Twitter.

He added: "There are many facts showing that the U.S. supports terrorist organizations. The efforts of the [U.S.] State Department to deny this obvious situation are absurd."

Erdogan said on Tuesday that the coalition forces have not kept their promises to Turkey regarding Operation Euphrates Shield.

"They said, 'We will make the utmost efforts to fight the Daesh terrorist organization.' They even accuse us of giving support to Daesh," Erdogan told a news conference in the capital Ankara.

Erdogan added: "Quite the contrary, they give support to the YPG and PYD, including Daesh. It is quite loud and clear."

He also said there is documentary evidence of this, including pictures, photos, and videos.

The YPG is the armed wing of the PYD – the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

While Turkey views the PYD and YPG as terrorist groups, Washington has supported the YPG as an "effective partner" in the fight against Daesh.

Operation Euphrates Shield began in late August to rid Syria's northern border area of terrorists. Tuesday marks day 126 of the operation.

Since the start of the operation, more than 1,000 Daesh terrorists have been "neutralized," according to an earlier briefing by Turkey's defense minister.

* Diyar Guldogan in Ankara contributed to this report