Turkish opposition head denounces Trump threats

By Mehmet Tosun</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – The leader of Turkey’s opposition Republican People's (CHP) Party on Tuesday slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's recent tweets threatening Turkey.</p> <p>&quot;Nobody can threaten the Turkish Republic like a street bully,&quot; Kemal Kilicdaroglu said during an announcement of mayoral candidates in the capital Ankara.</p> <p>On Sunday, Trump threatened to &quot;devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds,&quot; conflating &quot;Kurds&quot; with the terrorist PKK/YPG, a conflation that Turkey has repeatedly criticized.</p> <p>Following the surprise announcement in December that U.S. forces would leave Syria, U.S. officials said the withdrawal was conditional on Turkey not attacking the &quot;Kurds,&quot; meaning the terrorist PKK/YPG.</p> <p>Turkish officials blasted the U.S. conflation of &quot;Kurds&quot; with the terror group, saying an expected Turkish operation in Syria will target a terrorist group which threatens Arabs, Turkmens, and Kurds in Syria alike.</p> <p>In its 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives. The PKK/PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.