The Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist organization, the YPG, is not fighting Daesh but attacking the Syrian people as well as Turkish borders, Türkiye’s envoy to the United Nations Feridun Sinirlioğlu said on Tuesday.
"The PKK/YPG and the so-called 'SDF' are misguidedly supported by some with the claim that they are fighting Daesh," Sinirlioğlu said at a U.N. Security Council session on Syria. "In reality, however, the PKK/YPG/SDF continues to attack Syrian civilians and target Türkiye's borders with the very weapons provided to them to fight Daesh."
Sinirlioğlu said the YPG, which the U.S. calls a partner, carries out 100 terrorist attacks every month in northern Syria.
"The terrorist organization does not even bother to cover up its crimes, but rather openly claims responsibility for these attacks, publishing them on its social media accounts," he said.
"To those who still support this terrorist organization or express 'concern' with regard to Türkiye's determination to eliminate this terrorist/separatist threat, I ask: how long will you continue to ignore these crimes?" Sinirlioğlu asked rhetorically.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union, and Washington's support for its Syrian affiliate has been a major strain on bilateral relations with Ankara.
The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG in northeastern Syria in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand, Türkiye strongly opposed the YPG's presence in northern Syria. Ankara has long objected to the U.S.' support for the YPG, a group that poses a threat to Turkey and that terrorizes local people, destroying their homes and forcing them to flee.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Türkiye conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.
Sinirlioğlu also touched on counterterrorism operations by Türkiye, saying they are "carried out to combat all terrorist organizations that threaten our national security."
"We are determined to continue this fight," he said. "As has been the case in the past, Türkiye is taking all measures and steps toward that objective and to prevent harm to Syrian civilians in the region."
Ankara has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations since 2016 across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
