The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli has criticized the U.S.'s continuing support for the PKK-linked the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
Speaking at the MHP's weekly group meeting in Parliament yesterday, Bahçeli said that the terrorists on the east of the Euphrates are a serious security threat for Turkey and must be eliminated.
"The east of the Euphrates must entirely be cleared. The terrorists have been digging trenches around Manbij. The YPG/PKK have been arming themselves. Turkey cannot remain silent to these incidents," he said.
"Near our southern borders, a grave scenario is emerging. The U.S. needs to make its decision, is it an ally of Turkey or the YPG?" he added.
Turkey considers the presence of the PKK terror organization and its Syrian offshoot the YPG in northern Syria a grave threat against its national security.
The U.S. partnership with the terror group YPG has been the main stumbling block in the recovery of Turkey-U.S. ties.
Claiming that the group has contributed to the fight against Daesh, the U.S. has been not paying heed to Ankara's repeated warnings that the cooperation with a terror group to fight another terror group is unacceptable.
Ankara has been stressing that the territorial integrity of war-torn Syria needs to be preserved and calling on the U.S. to stop shoring up the YPG in its efforts to control the areas it holds.
In relation to the YPG presence in Syria's Manbij, east of the Euphrates in northeast Syria, Turkey has been criticizing the sluggish process of the deal reached with the U.S. which focuses on the withdrawal of the terror group from the region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also warned the U.S. yesterday on the YPG presence east of the Euphrates.
"If the necessary steps are not taken [by the U.S.] to the east of the Euphrates [against the PKK/YPG] ... we will take the necessary steps at the highest level," President Erdoğan told his party's parliamentary group.
He added that Turkey would take measures in the area, not only for its peace but also for the people living in that region.
