PYD selling out US, Turkish foreign minister says

ANKARA

The U.S. is being betrayed by the PYD in Syria, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency’s Editor’s Desk on Thursday.

Referring to the Kurdish group’s recently opened bureau in Russia, he said: “The PYD has started to sell out the U.S. and has opened an office in Moscow.”

The PYD, a PKK affiliate which Ankara regards as a terrorist group, opened the office earlier this month.

Cavusoglu, speaking to Anadolu Agency Editors' Desk on Thursday, said Turkey supported Syria's territorial integrity but warned that militias in the war were trying to break up the country:

"The PYD and YPG's aims are obvious. They want to split Syria, to establish administrations for them each and they do not hide their aims.”

Cavusoglu added that it was not Turkey’s aim “to give Syrian territory to someone after [a] political solution”.

The PYD militia has recently been supported by Russian airstrikes in Syria as it seeks to gain further ground while rebel groups face a Syrian government offensive.

The group has also been regarded by the U.S. as an ally operating on the ground in the fight against Daesh. Although the U.S. lists the PKK as a terror group, it does not acknowledge the PYD or its armed wing, the YPG, as such.

The Turkish FM also said that the U.S. was facing “serious contradictions” about the role of the YPG in northern Syria.

"The moderate opposition that we support is competing against Daesh. The YPG, which is supported by Russia and the U.S., are attacking [the moderates]," he said.

According to Turkey and other members of the anti-Daesh coalition, both Moscow and Damascus have been attacking moderate opposition fighters under the guise of fighting terrorists such as Daesh and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Syria deal

Cavusoglu also said the actual implementation of a cessation of hostilities in Syria is more important than its announcement.

He said that Turkey had supported a political solution in Syria from the beginning but warned that previous deals had broken down.

"The regime and Russia did not respect the decisions taken before," Cavusoglu said.

"The U.S. is approaching with caution, based on its experiences. The U.S. accepts that Russia did not respect previous agreements and maintained their attacks and had a negative role in the process ...”

The Turkish minister suggested the U.S. had acted in “good faith” with Russia but had been too trusting at times.

An agreement announced by the U.S. and Russia earlier in the week is for a cessation of hostilities to begin on midnight Friday local time. It is hoped it will allow for further aid to be delivered to desperate Syrians.

Daesh and the Nusra Front are excluded from the cessation of hostilities.

According to the UN figures released several months ago, more than 250,000 have been killed since the Syrian war began in 2011. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that around 400,000 people had died and 12 million people been displaced since the war started.