26-04-2024 09:03 AM Jerusalem Timing

Erdogan: Syria Ceasefire Must Not Include Kurdish Fighters

Erdogan: Syria Ceasefire Must Not Include Kurdish Fighters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said Syrian Kurdish forces must remain outside the scope of a ceasefire agreed between Syria’s warring parties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said Syrian Kurdish forces must remain outside the scope of a ceasefire agreed between Syria's warring parties, just like Takfiri insurgents of ISIL and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

"If Daesh (ISIL) and Al-Nusra are kept outside the ceasefire, then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are," Erdogan told local officials in Ankara, referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People's Protection Units (YPG) forces.Erdogan

The US and Russia have announced a ceasefire in Syria will come into effect on Feb. 27, but said that ISIL and Nusra Front will be excluded.

"Our allies must understand that they are at a crossroads... It is a fact that the [the Democratic Union Party] PYD and YPG are terrorist organizations that are extensions of the PKK," Erdoğan said.

In an apparent response to US statements calling the YPG an effective partner in the fight against ISIL in Syria, Erdoğan said the notion that the YPG was supported because it is fighting ISIL was a "great lie."

"The PYD is supported because it fights against ISIL. Nusra Front is also fighting against ISIL. Why is it bad?" he asked.