FM Fidan urges US to end support for PKK terror group, calls it a threat to Türkiye

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Ankara expects the United States to cease supporting the PKK terrorist organization, which poses a significant threat to Türkiye‘s security.

“Particularly in the fight against Daesh in Syria, the U.S. needs to reconsider its relationship parameters and step away from obligation to support the PKK, which poses a threat to Türkiye,” Fidan said in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic on Wednesday.

“This is a critical national security issue for us. Because the U.S. considers it a tactical situation to keep Daesh members in prison. However, supporting the PKK while doing so is a national security concern for us, and it is a truly toxic issue between us and the U.S. This has to end,” he said.

Pointing out that trade relations and potential with the U.S. are “intense,” he said exports between the two countries have been continuing in many areas.

He said there is technological cooperation with the U.S. that needs to be developed further structurally and that there is a need to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector.

Even though the new administration will be unable to reach an agreement with Syria’s PKK/YPG terrorist organization, which seeks its own governance and power base, Fidan expressed hope for a peaceful solution to this major problem.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU, has waged a 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, resulting in the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and the elderly. The YPG is the PKK’s affiliate in Syria.

Equal access to constitutional citizenship in Syria

Türkiye advises Syria’s new administration that ensuring equal access to constitutional citizenship would significantly contribute to societal peace.

Stressing that the second crucial tenet of this peace is that no entity, other than legal state organs, should carry weapons, Fidan warned, “The fact that the PKK and its affiliated elements occupy one-third of Syria’s territory, most of which are Arab cities, means that the PKK has occupied areas where Arabs live.”

Drawing attention to the fact that the US and European countries continue to support the PKK/YPG for the prison service they provide, the Turkish foreign minister said in exchange for holding Daesh prisoners in their prison, the terrorist organization occupied one-third of Syria’s territory “via a lie.”

Fidan said terrorists from Iraq, Türkiye, and Iran are being sheltered on Syrian territory, citing “threats to Syria’s territorial integrity, threats to Iraq’s territorial integrity, and threats to Türkiye,” and urged that this needs to be resolved.

Solidarity between Türkiye and ‘its Kurdish brother’

He pointed out that there are certain initiatives taken by the government and that the “friendship” between Ankara and the President of the Kurdish Regional Government is “extremely advanced.”

Emphasizing the tremendous solidarity between Türkiye and “its Kurdish brothers” in the KRG in the fight against terrorism, Fidan said: “They, too, have unfortunately been subjected to the PKK’s attacks, crimes, and offenses. In response, we show solidarity.”

“Therefore, they too have efforts and initiatives to encourage the PKK to disband and lay down its arms,” he said.

The minister said Türkiye has been supporting the Syrian opposition from the beginning and that this support has become “more important” in recent years as millions of Syrians have arrived in Türkiye.

PKK ringleader calls for disarmament

Meanwhile, in a related development, Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed ringleader of the PKK terrorist group, issued a highly anticipated statement on Thursday, calling for an end to armed conflict.

Ocalan urged the PKK to lay down arms and cease fighting against the state of Türkiye.

The announcement follows weeks of speculation after multiple visits by Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) officials to Imrali Island, where Ocalan has been serving a life sentence since his capture in Kenya in 1999.