With the opening of an exhibition at European Parliament that Ankara says promotes an armed wing of the PKK, growing discontent is being voiced by an increasing number of Turkish government officials. The latest reaction came from Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Ahmet Berat Çonkar. Çonkar condemned all the parties responsible for the exhibition in a press statement and demanded European Parliament renounce their "devious habit of supporting terrorism."

In a statement, Çonkar said Turkey has and is fighting terrorist threats to the country's national security and the lives of its citizens with absolute determination. "It is known that the Democratic Union Party [PYD] and People's Protection Units [YPG)] are one and the same as the PKK, which is a terrorist organization blacklisted by the EU. These organizations target the safety of our security forces alonand the people's rights and freedoms. They are known to oppress people, commit crimes ranging from abduction to the organizing of bombings targeting educational, religious and medical institutions," Çonkar said. He added that the PKK does not represent Kurds or their expectations, and accused it of causing the most harm to Kurds. Çonkar said Ankara has repeatedly provided the members of the European Parliament with proofs that the PYD and YPG share a common structure with the PKK, adding that European Parliament has repeatedly chosen to disregard them along with evidence of horrendous crimes, including ethnic cleansing, because the PYD fights against DAESH. Çonkar said that when terrorist attacks target EU countries within their own borders, they resorted to extreme measures, despite constant criticism that Turkey uses "disproportional" measures against terrorism. Çonkar said: "Acting as a mouthpiece for terrorist organizations, along with their hypocritical attitudes, undermines European Parliament's reputation greatly and leads to distrust."

Presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın has said that if fighting DAESH was the criteria, "the European Parliament might as well open exhibitions for Hezbollah, al- Nusra Front and the bloody-handed [Bashar] Assad regime."