NATO ally Erdogan accuses United States of training terrorists to attack Turkey

by Joel Gehrke, Foreign Affairs Reporter 

U.S. forces must withdraw from Syria, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who presented a united front with Russia and Iran while accusing the United States of training Kurdish forces “to commit a terrorist act” against his country.

“You see that the American (military) staff there train members of the terrorist organization (YPG/PKK),” Erdogan said, according to Turkish state media. “Their job is to commit a terrorist act against the Turkish soldiers there. Here, too, they think if they are deceiving the Turkish army by waving the regime’s flag there. We won’t be fooled.”

Erdogan paired that provocative charge with an announcement that he has aligned with Russia and Iran in demanding that U.S. forces leave eastern Syria — an exit that would deliver a major victory to Moscow and Tehran. And his bid to end the American partnership with the Kurdish forces that dismantled the Islamic State coincided with a bombardment in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, which threatens to spark a crisis with the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.

“This brutal attack underscores the fact that Turkey ignored Iraq’s continuous demands to refrain from military violations against Iraqi territory and the lives of its people,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi said Wednesday. “Iraq reserves the full right to respond to these attacks and will take all necessary measures to protect its people and hold the aggressors accountable for the ongoing escalation.”…..more here

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2022 Hiram's 1555 Blog