Turkey on Friday turned down a French offer to mediate with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces dominated by a Kurdish militia deemed a terrorist outfit by Ankara, a presidential spokesman said.
“We reject any efforts to promote ‘dialogue’, ‘contact’ or ‘mediation’ between Turkey and those terrorist organizations,” Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said he hoped “a dialogue” could be established between the two sides with help from Paris and the international community, after he met a delegation of Syrian and Arab fighters.
The backbone of the SDF is the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia which has been driven out of its Afrin stronghold by a Turkish offensive in northern Syria.
The YPG is the military wing of the main Syrian Kurdish political movement, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
“Turkey’s position on PKK/PYD/YPG, which seeks to legitimize itself as SDF, is perfectly clear,” Kalin said, warning Paris against taking any steps which could be construed as “legitimizing terror groups.”
“The countries we consider friends and allies must take a clear stand against all forms of terrorism,” he said.
“The various names and disguises cannot hide the true identity of the terrorist organization.”
During the meeting with the delegation, Macron acknowledged the “role of the SDF in the fight against Daesh”, an Arabic acronym for ISIL Takfiri group, the Elysee said.
Source: AFP
