US think tank member slams American support of PYD/PKK

By Hakan Copur

WASHINGTON

An average person in the U.S. would be appalled if they were told the truth of the country's foreign policy, according to the Heritage Foundation’s Middle East foreign policy director.

The effects of the PYD/PKK -- the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- on Turkish-American relations were discussed during a teleconference held by Washington-based think tank Turkish Heritage Organization (THO) on Wednesday.

The event held in the U.S. capital Washington was attended by Luke Coffey, the Heritage Foundation’s Middle East foreign policy director, and Kyle Orton, a member of U.K. based think tank, Henry Jackson Society.

Coffey stated that the U.S. support of PYD/PKK was not acceptable.

"If you told the average person on the street in America that their tax dollars are funding a neo-Marxist group with links to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, which has killed NATO soldiers and even killed U.S. citizens, they would be appalled by this," he said.

He noted that inconsistencies in the country's policy on Syria were the cause of the things that were happening today.

"But the White House under the [Barack] Obama Administration, in a very clumsy way, fell into this partnership. And now we're trying to finesse it. Now President [Donald] Trump is a new commander-in-chief and ultimately responsible, and he decided to continue with this strategy, in fact double down with this strategy," he said.

Coffey also said that the U.S. had made so many promises till now, but failed to keep most of them.

"The U.S. has made promises that it failed to keep. For example, when the PYD was moving into certain areas, the U.S. said that they weren't.

"The promises that we cannot keep… For example, the weapons provided or the training given to the YPG… that they wouldn't be used against Turkey. I mean, that is impossible. That's outside of the competency of the U.S. government to promise.”

Kyle Orton also emphasized that the support given to the YPG by the U.S. caused damages in Turkish-American relations that were very difficult to fix.

He added that in the current situation, these damages were not being controlled.

Turkey has long protested U.S. support for the PKK/PYD, and its military wing PYG, while Washington sees it as a "reliable ally" in its fight against Daesh in Syria.

The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 security forces and civilians