Turkey has expressed anger after the US military retweeted a statement denying any association between Kurdish anti-Daesh fighters and the extremist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The tweet, shared yesterday by the official Twitter account of the US Central Command, included a statement made by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an inter-sectarian collection of militias currently battling Daesh in Syria.
SDF confirms that it has no affiliation or ties to PKK pic.twitter.com/mvENTcBpoQ
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 11, 2017
The tweet read “SDF confirms that it has no affiliation or ties to PKK,” while the statement indicated that the SDF “is not a part of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which some governments are claiming to be.”
The SDF, America’s main partner against Daesh in Syria, includes the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Turkey has accused of being loyal to the PKK. The PKK have been responsible for many deadly attacks on Turkey since the early eighties, and are designated a terrorist group by the US, NATO and the European Union.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's press secretary Ibrahim Kalin replied to Central Command’s tweet with the following:
Is this a joke or @CENTCOM has lost its senses? Do you believe anyone will buy this? The US must stop trying to legitimize a terrorist group
— Ibrahim Kalin (@ikalin1) January 12, 2017
The country’s Defence Minister Fikri Isik echoed his words on Thursday at a conference in Ankara where he expressed hopes that US President-elect Donald Trump would “correct the mistake” of partnering with YPG in Syria after his inauguration later this month.
Meanwhile, journalist Ragıp Soylu wrote that to suggest YPG are not affiliated with the PKK is similar to suggesting that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the Syrian wing of Al Qaeda, has no connection to the latter:
Nusra, or Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham also confirms that it has no affiliation or ties to Al Qaeda. https://t.co/LXoEieDqzl
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) January 11, 2017
Other Twitter users added their voices of derision, as debate flared over the tweet:
Peanut butter confirms it has no affiliation with jelly. @CENTCOM https://t.co/R0YFuLBa0u
— Mr Grey Ghost (@Mr_Ghostly) January 11, 2017
@Mr_Ghostly @CENTCOM The moon confirms it has no ties to the Earth.
— Curtis (@McwCurtis) January 11, 2017
@CENTCOM @agirecudi yeah right. And Hezbollat in Syria has no affiliation with Iran. You guys think world is dumb?
— Roman S (@SekretRoman) January 11, 2017
The SDF statement at the center of this debate expressed a desire “to build a strong relationship on the concepts of mutual respect with all neighboring countries, to include Turkey.” From the Turkish response to this tweet, it seems like that is not likely anytime soon.
RA
