US continues to support YPG/PKK terror group: Türkiye

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - The US continues to support the YPG/PKK terrorist organization in Syria, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

"Our colleagues invited the (US) ambassador (to Ankara Jeff Flake). We have given the necessary warnings and messages," the sources told the reporters in the capital Ankara.

The remarks came after Flake was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday over chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley's recent visit to regions occupied by the YPG/PKK terror group in northeastern Syria, where US State Department spokesman Ned Price claimed that Milley “met only with US troops while in Syria."

"But this is a fact: Regardless of whether or not this meeting is held, the US continues to support this terrorist organization," Turkish diplomatic sources stressed.

In its almost 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

The YPG is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK terror group. US support for the YPG has long strained relations between Ankara and Washington.

- Extension of grain deal

Upon the July 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative deal, which will expire on March 18, the sources said Türkiye is working intensively to further extend it.

"Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also met with the UN Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) in Doha. The Secretary General will have a visit to Kiev," the sources noted.

There some problems that Russia is facing, the sources said, adding: "Russia's concerns, or rather all the difficulties they face, have not yet been overcome, so here we have to be honest and objective."

Last July, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a historic agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN was set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

- NATO bids of Finland, Sweden

Regarding this Thursday's trilateral meeting between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden in Brussels, the sources said whether the commitments in the memorandum of understanding are fulfilled by the Nordic countries will be discussed item by item.

"Changes in some laws need to be turned into concrete steps. Concrete steps to prevent for example, the financing of terrorism, recruitment of people, propaganda, etc., including terrorist activities," the diplomatic sources said.

Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum at a NATO summit in Madrid to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.

The memorandum addresses Türkiye's concerns, including arms exports and the fight against terrorism.

Only Hungary and Türkiye have not yet ratified Sweden and Finland's requests for inclusion in NATO.

Sweden’s new anti-terror legislation will target the financing, aiding, and propagation of terrorist groups. Traveling abroad to join or assist a terrorist group will also be penalized if the law goes into effect.

Ankara has been demanding Stockholm to take concrete actions to combat terrorist groups PKK and Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.

Sweden then passed an anti-terror law last November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm’s bid to join the NATO alliance. Türkiye says that the adopted laws were not sufficient enough and nothing much had been done to stop the activities of the terror groups.

Regarding NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's term which will end in October this year, the diplomatic sources said it is too early to talk about names.

"It would be too early to make an assessment according to the news. Let the candidates appear, we will share our thoughts with other allied countries," the sources added.

Stoltenberg, who took office in 2014 has no intention to seek another extension of his mandate, NATO's spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

About a question whether a phone call was held with Syria after last month's deadly earthquakes, the sources said: "No, we just took steps to deliver humanitarian aid."