Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has again lay strictures on the US for its support of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and urged the US government to make a choice between Turkey and the PYD.
“It is difficult to understand America, which says it will continue to support the PYD. According to all PKK documents (Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party), it is clear that it has created the PYD. We (with the US) are with NATO. So either are we your friends, or the PYD? Otherwise say openly: I provide weapons to the PYD, mate. However, the friend should behave in a friendly manner. Negotiations behind closed doors afflict us”, – said Erdogan, speaking to the heads of village administrations in Ankara.
The Turkish artillery for the four days is shelling Kurdish Self-Defense Forces fighters at the Minneh airbase and in the nearby village north of Syria. Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu called those actions as a retaliation to the threat of the Turkish border from the PYD units and demanded them to leave their positions to the north of Aleppo, but the party leader Salih Muslim refused to do this.
US Vice President Joe Biden called on Turkey to stop the shelling of the PYD units. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is concerned about shelling of Syrian territory by the Turkish side and regards those actions as a blatant support of terrorism and the violation of UN Security Council resolutions.