28-03-2024 07:01 PM Jerusalem Timing

Erdogan: U.S. Weapons Airdrop to Kobani ’Wrong’

Erdogan: U.S. Weapons Airdrop to Kobani ’Wrong’

Turkish President Recep Tayyeb Erdogan said on Wednesday it was wrong of the United States to air drop military supplies to Kurdish fighters defending the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), U.S. President Barack Obama (R)Turkish President Recep Tayyeb Erdogan said on Wednesday it was wrong of the United States to air drop military supplies to Kurdish fighters defending the Syrian border town of Kobani, as some weapons were seized by militants of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) besieging it.

"What was done here on this subject turned out to be wrong. Why did it turn out wrong? Because some of the weapons they dropped from those C130s were seized by ISIL (ISIL)," Erdogan told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara.

The Pentagon denied the news on Tuesday, claiming that the vast majority of the U.S. supplies dropped on Sunday had reached the Kurdish fighters despite an online video showing ISIL fighters with a bundle.

Asked about a plan for Turkey to facilitate the passage of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to Kobani to help in its defense line, Erdogan said he proposed this move in a telephone call with U.S. President Barack Obama at the weekend.

"That aid that you would deliver to the PYD and PKK is unacceptable for us," Erdogan said in a press conference at Ankara Esenboga Airport before leaving for an official visit to Latvia.

"I have difficulty understanding why Kobani is so strategic for them because there are no civilians there, just around 2,000 fighters," Erdogan said. "At first they didn't say yes to peshmergas, but then they gave a partial yes and we said we would help."

He added that talks were continuing among officials on the details of the peshmergas' transit through Turkey.

The PKK is the Kurdistan Workers' Party, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and some other countries. It has waged a 30-year campaign against the Turkish state. The PYD is the Unionist Democratic Party, which the Turkish government believes is in league with the PKK.