Erdogan spokesperson slams US military for backing Syrian Kurdish militia

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesperson lashed out at the US military on Thursday after it re-tweeted a statement by a Kurdish-dominated alliance it backs in Syria saying it had no links to Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish state.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, the main US partner on the ground in Syria in the fight against Islamic State, includes the powerful Kurdish YPG militia.



Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK militant group, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

SDF confirms that it has no affiliation or ties to PKK pic.twitter.com/mvENTcBpoQ

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 11, 2017

Erdogan's spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, replied to the tweet.

Is this a joke or @CENTCOM has lost its senses? Do you believe anyone will buy this? The US must stop trying to legitimize a terrorist group

— İbrahim Kalın (@ikalin1) January 12, 2017

"Do you believe anyone will buy this? The U.S. must stop trying to legitimize a terrorist group."

US support for the YPG has been a major sticking point between Washington and Turkey, a NATO ally and a member of the US-led coalition against Islamic State.



Turkey is hoping that the incoming US administration under President-elect Donald Trump will re-think its policy in Syria and stop providing support to militants.