Erdogan: U.S. Must Pick its Partner – Turkey or the Kurdish Terrorists

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) —
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks at a business forum during a visit in Lima, Peru, February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Janine Costa
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses a business forum in Lima, Peru, last Wednesday. (Reuters/Janine Costa)

Turkey’s president has lashed out at the United States, one week after President Barack Obama’s envoy visited a northern Syrian town that is under the control of Syrian Kurdish forces whom Ankara considers terrorists.

In comments published Sunday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Washington should choose between Turkey and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as its partner.

Erdogan said: “How can we trust you? Am I your partner or are the terrorists in Kobani?”

That barb came after envoy Brett McGurk’s visit to Kobani, where the PYD’s military wing, aided by U.S.-led airstrikes, drove back Islamic State terrorists a year ago. Turkey considers PYD a terror group because of its affiliation with Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK.

 

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