Support for the YPG/PKK by the United States sticks out like a sore thumb in otherwise steady relations between Ankara and Washington. Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said they expected the U.S. to act in accordance with the “spirit of alliance” and take Türkiye’s security concerns seriously.
Kalın was speaking in an interview for the new edition of Kriter magazine, a periodical political publication of the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), for the 2023 vision. “2022 has been a year for Türkiye when it showed its strength both at the table and in the field. We will adhere to a foreign policy with the ultimate goal of global peace and stability in 2023 as well,” he told Kriter.
On Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts, Kalın said, “no one should think that Türkiye would remain quiet in the face of the threat of terrorism both within its territories and right across its borders,” he said in reference to the YPG/PKK presence in Syria’s north. The YPG/PKK was the culprit in a string of terrorist attacks both immediately on the Turkish side of the border and in Istanbul in 2022. “We expect the U.S. and Russia to carry out their commitments on the issue dating back to 2019 and for clearing of terrorism from the other side of our borders. Our fight against elements of terrorism threatening our national security will continue in the same determined way until our country and immediate border region are entirely secure,” he said.
In October 2019, Russia announced its commitment to removing the terrorist group from Syria’s Tal Rifaat and Manbij after reaching an agreement with Türkiye during Operation Peace Spring. Moscow also promised that the terrorists would be pulled back 30 kilometers (18.64 miles) from the border on the M4 highway and in the area outside the Operation Peace Spring zone. Likewise, then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pledged to Türkiye that the YPG/PKK terrorist group would withdraw from the Operation Peace Spring region.
Kalın said the U.S. stance toward terrorist groups continued affecting bilateral relations and said they would not accept “any unilateral policy push regardless of who forces Türkiye into it,” he said. He added that they would shape their relations in the future based on joint interests and aspired to resolve the issues through a realistic approach and strategic thinking.
