State Department refrains from providing US assessment about YPG's threat to Türkiye

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The State Department said Wednesday the US stands “firmly” with its NATO ally Türkiye in the fight against the PKK -- designated as a terror organization by Washington.

But the agency avoided commenting on the terror group’s connection to its Syrian branch, the YPG.

Asked by an Anadolu reporter about Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s remarks when he said the two PKK/YPG terrorists who attempted a terror attack Sunday came from Syria, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel responded: “The US stands firmly with our NATO ally Turkey and the Turkish people in their fight against the PKK, which has been designated FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) by the United States.”

“On these specific claims, though we have not received enough adequate information to confirm those. We don't have anything to offer from here,” he said.

When pressed by another reporter on the distinction between threats posed by the PKK and the YPG to Türkiye and the US position if they are separate, Patel said: “That is the case. I'm not here to change long-standing US policy.”

“We recognize the legitimate security threat that PKK poses to Türkiye,” said Patel.

Asked if the US thinks the YPG poses a threat to Türkiye, he said: “I don't have a security assessment like that to offer.”

The US policy on Syria has been one of the most challenging issues between the two NATO allies as Türkiye has never accepted the US support for the YPG because of its ties to the PKK, which has been listed as a terror organization by Türkiye and EU as well.

The US has said several times that it sees the YPG, which was renamed the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a partner in the fight against Daesh/ISIS in Syria and does not recognize it as a terror group, although it does acknowledge the PKK as such.

The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Türkiye for more than 35 years and has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in front of the Security Directorate General in Türkiye's capital of Ankara, while another terrorist was killed by security forces at the entrance gate.

Two police officers suffered minor injuries in the attack. ​​​​​​​

The Interior Ministry confirmed the attackers' links to the PKK terror group.

Fidan said Wednesday that two terrorists who attempted the attack came from Syria, adding that facilities belonging to the PKK/YPG terror group in Iraq and Syria are "legitimate targets" of Turkish Armed Forces.