Davutoğlu warns YPG, says Turkey will ‘do what’s necessary’

If Turkey’s security is threatened by the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) military wing, the People’s Defense Units (YPG), then Ankara will “do what is necessary,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has stated.

“As I have said, the link between the YPG and the [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] PKK is obvious. If the YPG threatens our security then we will do what is necessary,” told Davutoğlu reporters flying from The Hague to Ankara on Feb. 10.

Turkey regards the PYD and the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed PKK, with which it has been in armed clashes since the 1980s.

Davutoğlu said two groups in particular are exploiting the chaotic situation in Iraq and Syria: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the PKK. Referring to the U.S.’s statement that the PYD is an “important partner” in the fight against ISIL, Davutoğlu said one should not justify a terrorist organization just because it is fighting against another one, citing the example of the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra.

“Just like [al-Nusra], the PKK cannot earn legitimacy [this way],” he added...
  [hurriyetdailynews.com]
12/2/16
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