Israel and France, longtime allies of the PKK’s Syrian offshoot the YPG, have reiterated their support for the terrorist group following the ouster of Bashar Assad.
A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official on Tuesday claimed Türkiye must face pressure from world powers for its strikes against the PKK/YPG in northern Syria, where the terrorist group seeks to create a terror corridor along the Turkish border.
"The international community must call on Türkiye to stop these aggressions and killings,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Eden Bar Tal told reporters.
Israel often expresses support for the PKK/YPG – which uses entrenched positions in the region to launch terrorist attacks inside Türkiye – and the YPG has welcomed Tel Aviv’s assistance many times, including in 2019 when Ankara mounted a counterterrorism operation.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called the PKK/YPG “freedom fighters fighting militant groups in Syria” and assured France would not abandon the terrorist group.
France is an active member of the U.S.-led coalition against the Daesh terror group and maintains a military presence in northeast Syria.
Türkiye has long been bothered by the U.S. support of the PKK/YPG in Syria, considering the PKK is proscribed as a terrorist group by the European Union, the U.S. and Türkiye.
The terrorist group is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths in Türkiye, including women and children. It maintains strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria for its so-called “Kurdish state.”
The PKK/YPG has occupied swathes of northern Syria, including oil-rich areas, since 2015, with the help of the U.S.
Türkiye, which has mounted multiple operations against the YPG in Syria since 2016, says the YPG/PKK is on par with Daesh and should have no presence in the new Syria.
Ankara said it trusts the new Syrian administration in the fight against the PKK/YPG but threatened military action if the terrorist group refuses to disband.
Türkiye, often accusing Israel of supporting the PKK, has seen its relations with Israel sour since last year due to Israel’s war on Gaza, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and global bodies denounce as a genocide.
