No tolerance for empowering PKK/YPG terror group under guise of Daesh fight: FM Fidan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned Monday against using the fight against Daesh as a pretext for strengthening the terrorist group PKK/YPG. He cautioned the Western world against supporting the PKK, a separatist terrorist organization, under the guise of countering Daesh.

“The PKK’s empire of violence built over Kurdish people is on the verge of collapse,” Fidan stated during a joint news conference in Ankara with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

Fidan called on the PKK/YPG to lay down their arms in Syria “as soon as possible,” in line with Syria’s new leadership, which is urging various armed groups to disarm or join the nation’s armed forces.

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 over 40,000 people, including women, children, and the elderly. The YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia, is the PKK’s affiliate in Syria.

Turkish officials have long condemned U.S. support for the PKK/YPG in the fight against Daesh, emphasizing that using one terrorist group to combat another is a flawed strategy.