US calls Erdogan accusation of aiding IS 'ludicrous'

WASHINGTON, United States (Kurdistan24) - US State Department on Tuesday dismissed Turkey's accusation against the Coalition of aiding "terror groups" in Syria, including Kurdish forces and the Islamic State (IS).

"It’s ludicrous, to be honest. No basis for truth, as you can all imagine," said State Department spokesperson Mark Toner in response to a question regarding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's claim at a Washington press briefing.

"The Coalition forces used to accuse us [Turkey] of supporting Daesh [IS]. Quite the contrary. They are giving support to terrorist organizations including Daesh and PYD/YPG," declared Erdogan the same day at a joint Ankara press conference with his Guinean counterpart Alpha Conde.

"We have all the [proofs] in the form of photographs and videos," he added. 

Erdogan's remarks came a day after complaints from his office of a lack of Coalition support to the Turkish troops trying to capture the Syrian town of al-Bab in northern Aleppo.

Turkey has long been a fierce critic of President Barack Obama's policy of "degrading and destroying IS" in Syria because of the administration's military reliance on the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Since the beginning of US-led aerial support and weapons shipments to the YPG defending Kobani in the face of an all-out IS assault in late 2014, Erdogan has been directing accusations of supporting terror against the US.

"I don’t think anyone could look at our actions on the ground leading the coalition in northern Syria, in Iraq, and say anything other than that we’re 100 percent behind the defeat, destruction of Daesh, and even beyond Syria and Iraq," added Toner.

Editing by Ava Homa

(Laurie Mylroie contributed to this report from Washington)