In snub to Turkey, US says Syria’s PYD is not a terror group

The United States has said it understands Turkey's longstanding concerns over Syria's Kurdish militias, but that it does not view them as a terrorist group and will continue supporting them in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"We do not recognize the [Democratic Union Party] PYD as a terrorist organization. We recognize Turks do," US State Department spokesman John Kirby told a daily press briefing this week. The remarks are expected to come as a surprise to Ankara, who asked Washington to choose sides: either Turkey or the PYD.

The PYD is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). US officials say its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), is the most effective partner on the ground in the fight against ISIL in northern Syria. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union.

• Kirby said Turkey's concerns over the Syrian Kurdish militants are not new and that both allies continue to hold consultations on the matter. 
• The public split between Washington and Ankara on the status of the PYD was so serious that Kirby went to great lengths to reiterate that Turkey and the US are good friends.

"Look, even friends don't agree on everything. And we're friends and we're not going to always agree on everything in this particular fight. And it's a complicated struggle. We recognize that," Kirby said. He explained how the fight on the Turkish border has an impact on Turkey in a "tangible, demonstrable, real, human" way every single day and that it is not a far-off, distant conflict for Turkey. However, he said, even though the US understands Turkey has longstanding concerns about supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria, it is not going "to take our foot off the accelerator when it comes to going after" ISIL...
   todayszaman.com
9/2/16
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Related:

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• Is Turkey preparing to invade Syria? Russia believes so

• Turquía y EE.UU. más unidos contra ISIS pero difieren por las milicias kurdas

• Turkey warns ’hostile forces’ west of Euphrates

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• In a TV interview late on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkey had warned the PYD not to cross to the "west of the Euphrates and that we would hit it the moment it did. 

• No solution in Syria crisis without Turkey, says Davutoglu. "The PYD will not pass to the west of the Euphrates"