By Yusuf Ozcan
PARIS (AA) – Turkish ambassador to Paris on Wednesday said Ankara has repeatedly warned its allies that the YPG/PYD terrorist group is as deadly as Daesh.
Speaking at a conference entitled “Turkey: European and Regional Perspectives” at the Institut Diderot in Paris, Ismail Hakki Musa highlighted Turkey’s role in hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees as well as humanitarian relief efforts worldwide, spending as much as $8 billion as the world’s second most charitable country.
He also spoke about Turkey-EU cooperation on security and counterterrorism and said his country is an “important actor” in this regard.
Musa stressed that Turkey has been one of the most effective members of the international coalition against the Daesh terror group and that “neutralized” over 3,000 terrorists in Syria thus far.
Noting that Europe had only heeded Ankara’s warnings against Daesh after the terror group began conducting attacks on the continent, the ambassador said that Turkey’s goal with the U.S. on Manbij was to clear the area of the PYD/YPG and deliver the region to its real owners.
On Nov. 1, Turkish and U.S. troops began joint patrols in Manbij, northeast of the Aleppo Governorate in Syria, as part of an agreement that focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region.
The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a terrorist group recognized by Turkey, the U.S., and EU, which in its 30-year terror campaign has taken some 40,000 lives.
The U.S. has claimed the YPG/PKK is an “ally” in the fight against Daesh, over Turkey’s objections that one cannot use a terrorist group to fight another.
Turkey has repeatedly cited evidence that the YPG is no different from the PKK.
