The PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot, the YPG, is spreading propaganda through its social media accounts and putting out a call for foreigners to join the terrorist group.
In its English language Twitter account, the terrorist group wrote "You want to come as a volunteer to Rojava?" and then shared contact information for those who are interested.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey and the European Union. However, 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, Turkey 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, Turkey conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.
During its joint fight with the U.S. against Daesh, the YPG attracted many foreigners to join its ranks. A report issued last year called “Foreign Terrorist Fighters in PKK/YPG in Syria: Violent Extremism Backfires” has revealed the relationship between YPG terrorists in Syria and Antifa movements in western countries, warning about the possible negative consequences of turning a blind eye to extremist groups' activities. The report said that both the glorification of the YPG in the Western media and international actors’ inaction against the terrorist group have reinforced this flow of foreign fighters and terrorists into the region.
