Turkey says Kurdish armed groups in Syria ‘legitimate targets’

Ibrahim Kalin, the presidential spokesperson, tells Al Jazeera that Ankara will goal the PKK, YPG and PYD Kurdish teams to guard its borders.

The spokesperson for the Turkish presidency has instructed Al Jazeera that Kurdish armed teams in Syria are “legit targets”, and accused them of exploiting ties with america to justify their presence alongside Turkey’s border with Syria.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ibrahim Kalin stated Ankara is after the Kurdistan Staff’ Social gathering (PKK) and its offshoots the Kurdish Folks’s Safety Items (YPG) and Democratic Union Social gathering (PYD) teams to guard its borders.

Ankara has blamed the outlawed PKK, YPG and their affiliated teams for the November 13 Istanbul blast in addition to earlier assaults. The PKK has been waging a decades-long bloody armed riot for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast. Ankara, together with its NATO allies – the US and European Union – have declared the PKK a “terrorist” organisation.

“For us, any and all PKK, PYD, YPG institutions, components, posts, army factors are legit targets for us,” Kalin stated in the course of the interview with the Speak to Al Jazeera programme, whether or not they’re in Syria or Turkey.

“They’re legit targets as a result of they’re terrorist organisations,” he continued. “We go after them to guard our borders. We don’t goal Russian or American troopers or army posts in Syria or wherever else.”

Kalin went on to say that the PKK, PYD, and YPG “components” have up to now used American and the Syrian regime flags to “defend themselves”.

“That itself exhibits the extent of the PYD and YPG utilizing their alliance with america to legitimise their very own presence in northern Syria,” he stated.

The presidential spokesperson stated that the latest “terrorist” assault on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul prompted Turkey to reply. The perpetrator, a Syrian girl of Kurdish descent, was educated by Kurdish fighters there, the federal government stated.

“Our preliminary response was to coordinate and conduct a lot of air operations,” Kalin stated. “And naturally, relying on the risk stage as assessed by our intelligence and our air defence ministry and the associated businesses, we are going to go after these terrorists, whether or not from the air or from the bottom.”

Turkey has ramped up its shelling and air raids on northern Syria in latest weeks and has been getting ready a floor invasion towards the YPG, a majority-Kurdish drive that dominates the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) based mostly in Syria. Ankara has reportedly focused a number of army websites belonging to SDF in Syria’s Raqqa.

Belghan Ozturk, a safety analyst, stated that the Istanbul bombing assault was “a pink line for Turkey’s state stability and nationwide safety”.

“So the YPG carried out rocket assaults in retaliation of the Turkish air raids,” Ozturk stated from Denver, Colorado. “Turkey desires to ensure the YPG was in no capability to undertake additional assaults – inside Turkey and cross border rocket assaults.”

The delay might be due to the resistance Turkey has confronted from a number of worldwide powers concerned in Syria, together with Iran, Russia and america.

On Friday, SDF, which controls territory in northern Syria, stated it might now not take part in joint counterterrorism operations with the US and different allies within the wake of the Turkish assaults. The SDF says it has documented about 70 assaults for the reason that operation was introduced.

A spokesperson for the SDF stated that “all coordination and joint counterterrorism operations” with the US-led coalition battling remnants of ISIL (ISIS) in Syria in addition to “all of the joint particular operations we had been finishing up repeatedly” had been halted.