The French senate has hosted members of the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG, and awarded medals of "honor" this week despite the repeated security concerns and warnings of its NATO ally Türkiye.
“This week, I had the honor of welcoming a delegation from the Administrative Authority of Northeastern Syria (AANES) to the Senate! Exchanges on the situation at #Rojava with @BedranCiyakurd @abdulkarimomar1 @NuriMahmoud_eng, Roxanne Muhammad, Khaled Issa,” French Senate Vice Chair Pierre Laurent wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
YPG members have frequently been hosted and supported by French officials.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union and the United States, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The French senate hosting YPG members comes after the incident of the crash of a helicopter, which was allegedly carrying PKK terrorists in northern Iraq.
The chopper crashed in Iraq's Duhok region in mid-March, and a day later Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said some of those on board were members of the PKK terrorist organization.
Initial findings indicated that it was a Eurocopter AS350 helicopter and that some of the crash victims were PKK terrorists. The chopper is designed and manufactured in France.
Support of the YPG in Syria by France, the United States and several other Western countries has become one of the stumbling blocks in bilateral ties between Türkiye and its NATO allies.
The U.S. is similarly meeting regularly with YPG members and hosting them in the country.
Most recently, the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley visited Syria’s northeastern areas held by the YPG. The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the visit while Washington claimed Milley “only visited U.S. soldiers.”
The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG in northeastern Syria to fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand, Türkiye strongly opposed the YPG terrorist group’s presence in northern Syria. Ankara has long objected to the U.S.’ support for the YPG, a group that poses a threat to Türkiye and terrorizes locals, 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 YPG terrorists, despite its NATO ally’s security concerns.
