AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday slammed the United States for its continued support of the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, calling on Washington to stand by promises it made to NATO ally Turkey.
"What kind of NATO alliance is this? You give terrorists around 23,000 truckloads of weapons and tools through Iraq but when we asked, you won't even sell them to us," Erdoğan said during an election campaign rally in southwestern Turkey's Burdur.
Erdoğan said Turkey expects Syria's Manbij to be cleared of YPG militants and to be left to local people as soon as possible, as promised.
The June 2018 Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of YPG militants from the city to stabilize the region, which is located in the northern part of Syria's Aleppo province.
The Turkish President criticized countries "thousands of kilometers away" planning to conduct operations in Syria, while Turkey is constantly "under threat" with its 911-kilometer border with Syria.
Erdoğan said only those who side with Turkey will win in the region.
He reiterated Turkey's determination to fight terrorism in neighboring Syria, saying, "We will definitely deal a heavy blow to the terror organization soon."
The Kurdish militants in northern Syria, who have long enjoyed US support, feel abandoned by Washington following US President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision late last year to pull the American forces out of Syria amid plans by Turkey to launch an operation against anti-Damascus Kurdish militants.
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source : Daily Sabah
Tuesday
19 February 2019
12:30:30 PM
929754
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday slammed the United States for its continued support of the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, calling on Washington to stand by promises it made to NATO ally Turkey.