Turkey says France ‘supporting terrorists,’ criticizes US over mixed stance on Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said France was helping “terrorists by hosting them” at the Élysée Palace, following a visit from Syrian Kurdish officials last week. His government also said the United States was sending “mixed messages” on its role in Syria.

Erdogan has been infuriated with both Paris and Washington’s support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) make up a majority.

The US and France have both armed the SDF and provided military assistance and advice to the troops in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State (IS) in war-torn Syria.

Ties between Ankara and Paris have deteriorated in recent weeks, especially following Turkey’s military offensive into Afrin that it launched in late January to target the Kurdish YPG forces, which Erdogan considers an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Tensions seemed to worsen following French President Emmanuel Macron’s meeting on March 29 with a Syrian delegation including the YPG and its political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

In the meeting, Macron extended his country’s support to help stabilize the Kurdish region in northern Syria against IS.

Erdogan, in a message to his supporters in the southwestern province of Denizli on Saturday, said France’s support for “terrorists” could make them “a target for Turkey.”

“France, you are abetting terrorism, supporting it by then hosting them at the Élysée Palace,” he said.

“You will not be able to explain this. You will not be able to rid yourself of this terror burden,” he warned, adding that “as long as the West nurtures these terrorists, you will sink,” seemingly taking a jab at the US for its support of the Kurdish forces.

Following the climax of its Afrin campaign, Turkey has threatened to advance further east into Manbij where US and French forces are deployed.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said he would pull troops from Syria “very soon,” but then later said the troops would remain “a little longer” to ensure the lasting defeat of IS in the region.

Turkey criticized the “confusion” surrounding America’s role in the country and said it wants assurances from the US that YPG forces would leave Manbij and go east of the Euphrates River.

According to Erdogan’s spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin, Russia had “assured” Turkey the YPG is no longer in Tel Rifaat, a region east of Afrin which Ankara previously threatened to advance toward.

“If that’s the case” with the US and Manbij, “we are okay with that,” Kalin said in remarks carried by Reuters.