'Turkey doesn't target Kurds but terrorists'

By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The leader of Turkey’s opposition Good (IYI) Party on Tuesday slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks on Kurds.

“The Turkish state doesn’t fight Kurds, but terrorists," Meral Aksener told her party's parliamentary group on Tuesday, addressing Trump.

Aksener's remarks came after Trump on Sunday threatened to "devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds," conflating "Kurds" with the terrorist PKK/YPG, a conflation that Turkey has repeatedly criticized.

Aksener told how Turkey has "embraced oppressed people in the Middle East for years."

"The Turkish nation and Turkish state do not attack, and never slaughter," said Aksener.

She added: "Every country should look at its history and past."

Following the surprise announcement in December that U.S. forces would leave Syria, U.S. officials said the withdrawal was conditional on Turkey not attacking the "Kurds," meaning the terrorist PKK/YPG.

Turkish officials blasted the U.S. conflation of "Kurds" with the terror group, saying an expected Turkish operation in Syria will target a terrorist group which threatens Arabs, Turkmens, and Kurds in Syria alike.

In its 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives. The PKK/PYD/YPG is its Syrian branch.