Turkey’s top security board says US support to YPG ‘does not befit’ an ally

ANKARA

Turkey’s top security board has repeated Ankara’s stance on the United States’ policy of providing weapons to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria to fight jihadists, underlining that “support given to a terror organization” does not befit an ally and friend. 

“It has been emphasized that the implementation of a policy to support the PKK/PYD-YPG terrorist organization in the guise of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), ignoring Turkey’s expectations, does not befit a friendship and alliance,” stated the National Security Council (MGK) after a five-hour meeting late May 31. 

The MGK convened under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and with the participation of the highest level military and civilian authorities.   

Turkey considers the YPG, the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is also recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union. The U.S. administration started to provide weapons to the YPG upon a presidential order signed by Donald Trump in mid-May at the expense of angering its closest ally, Turkey. 

The MGK reviewed the state of ongoing fight against terror, recalling that recent attacks in Afghanistan, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Iraq, Sweden, Belgium and Pakistan “prove once again Turkey’s rightfulness in urging efficient global cooperation against terror.” It added that engaging in strategic cooperation with Turkey in counterterrorism would be to the advantage of the whole world. 


De-escalation zones will help stability in Syria 

The MGK said it discussed developments in Syria and Iraq both politically and militarily, expressing Turkey’s determinacy in eliminating any threat that could be posed against its national security. 

“It’s been assessed that de-escalation zones that Turkey, Russia and Iran are trying to set together in Syria, with the purpose of reinforcing nationwide ceasefire and generating confidence building measures, would contribute to the regional peace in regards to political and humanitarian perspectives,” it said. 


EU accession talks
 
The MGK made a comprehensive evaluation on the relationship with the EU after Erdoğan’s meeting with top EU leaders on May 25 in Brussels. The board expressed its support to the government on the eve of key meetings on June 13 by underlining that these ties “need to be improved within the framework of Turkey’s full membership objective.”