Syrian Kurdish leader backs Turkey against YPG terrorists in Syria
Turkey has the right to defend its borders from the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish leader said Thursday.
Speaking at a panel organized by the Turkish Heritage Organization on Syria's future in Washington, Abdulaziz Tammo, president of the Independent Syrian Kurds Association, said Ankara's operation in northeastern Syria is based on "justified" grounds.
"Turkey has the right to protect its borders from all terrorist organizations, be it Daesh or the YPG. It does not matter," he said.
Tammo expressed that the YPG posed the same threat to Syrian Kurds as the Daesh terror group, adding the PKK is not a group consisting of Syrians and yet PKK terrorists from many countries are active in Syria.
Stating that Turkey's military operations in northern Syria have "gravely" differed from those carried out by the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition, Tammo said: "While Turkey has taken the utmost precautions to prevent civilian casualties, for example in Raqqa operations (by the coalition), the town was flattened."
The Syrian Kurdish leader said the area in northeastern Syria should be cleared of terror organizations so that a large number of Syrian refugees could settle there.
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the YPG.
The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aimed to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians to return to in the area east of the Euphrates river controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.
Locals in YPG-controlled areas have long suffered from the YPG's atrocities. The terrorist organization has a lengthy record of human rights abuses in Syria, including kidnappings, recruiting child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.
The YPG is applying pressure on opposition groups in areas it has seized as well. The Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS), for instance, has criticized the YPG's oppression of rival political voices and the group's brutal actions, which include burning down its offices and arresting or kidnapping its members.
Speaking at a panel organized by the Turkish Heritage Organization on Syria's future in Washington, Abdulaziz Tammo, president of the Independent Syrian Kurds Association, said Ankara's operation in northeastern Syria is based on "justified" grounds.
"Turkey has the right to protect its borders from all terrorist organizations, be it Daesh or the YPG. It does not matter," he said.
Tammo expressed that the YPG posed the same threat to Syrian Kurds as the Daesh terror group, adding the PKK is not a group consisting of Syrians and yet PKK terrorists from many countries are active in Syria.
Stating that Turkey's military operations in northern Syria have "gravely" differed from those carried out by the U.S.-led anti-Daesh coalition, Tammo said: "While Turkey has taken the utmost precautions to prevent civilian casualties, for example in Raqqa operations (by the coalition), the town was flattened."
The Syrian Kurdish leader said the area in northeastern Syria should be cleared of terror organizations so that a large number of Syrian refugees could settle there.
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the YPG.
The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aimed to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians to return to in the area east of the Euphrates river controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.
Locals in YPG-controlled areas have long suffered from the YPG's atrocities. The terrorist organization has a lengthy record of human rights abuses in Syria, including kidnappings, recruiting child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.
The YPG is applying pressure on opposition groups in areas it has seized as well. The Syrian Kurdish National Council (ENKS), for instance, has criticized the YPG's oppression of rival political voices and the group's brutal actions, which include burning down its offices and arresting or kidnapping its members.
Last Update: December 20, 2019 01:51