Erdogan: threat to Turkey in Syria comes from its strategic partners
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on the television channel NTV on Saturday that the threat to Turkey in Syria comes primarily from its strategic partners.
"The U.S. sent 5,000 trucks loaded with weapons to northern Syria. We cannot buy weapons from the US for money, but they and the coalition forces can supply these weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups for free. So, from whom does the threat emerge? Primarily from our strategic partners," the Turkish leader said.
Erdogan includes Kurds serving in the forces of the People's Protection Units (PPG) as part of the "terrorist groups" in Syria. Erdogan also includes the Democratic Union Party within its terrorist listing, since Ankara regards the group to be a Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party, a party which is banned in the Turkish Republic. Since January 20, Turkey has been conducting an operation in the Afrin region in northern Syria targeting these organizations. The operation is nicknamed "Operation Olive Branch".
Turkey has not hidden its discontent with US support of Syrian Kurdish forces. Ankara believes that Washington is making a mistake by supplying arms to the PPG troops, and claims that the American weapons these groups received may eventually be directed against Turkey.