US Reiterates PYD Is Not Terrorist After Erdoğan's Critical Remarks

A US State Department official has reiterated that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is not considered a terrorist organization under US law.

US Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki told the Cihan news agency on Friday that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a terrorist group but the PYD however is not considered as such.

Fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Kobani, the Kurdish PYD is affiliated with the outlawed PKK. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, Turkey and the European Union. But the US has said in previous remarks that under US law, the PYD is legally a different group from the PKK and is not considered a terrorist organization.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday criticized the US air-dropping weapons and medical supplies to the Kurdish forces fighting against ISIL in Kobani, saying it had been done despite Turkey's opposition.

Commenting on Erdoğan's critical remarks, Psaki reiterated US Secretary of State John Kerry previous remarks on arms supply, saying US understands Turkey's concerns. She added that both US President Barack Obama and Kerry had exchanged views on the topic with their Turkish counterparts and said the air supply was part of efforts to fight ISIL.

During his visit to Latvia on Thursday, Erdoğan said he had warned Obama of the possibility that the weapons aid may potentially end up in the hands of terrorist organizations.

Obama called Erdoğan on Saturday to “notify” him about the US intention to air-drop aid to the PYD. On Sunday the US military dropped the aid to the PYD in Kobani via the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Erdoğan said Turkey is not pleased to see the US aid ending up with the PYD as well as ISIL militants.

The president also said that during his phone conversation with Obama on Saturday, he underscored that the PYD and the PKK are the same. “I told him that the PYD is a terrorist organization as well. Therefore, any aid to the PYD will go to a terrorist organization. There are people among the PYD fighting [in Kobani] from the PKK leadership. I expressed this to him,” stressed Erdoğan.

Erdoğan on Wednesday called the US aid to the Kurdish forces “wrong” because some of the supplies had ended up in the hands of terrorists.

US-led coalition to meet in Kuwait

As part of efforts to strengthen the cooperative fight against ISIL, Kuwait will host a conference of US-led coalition partners on Oct. 27.

US Department of State deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said on Friday that senior officials from Bahrain, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the UAE have been invited to participate.

The continuous exchange of accusations against each other on the ways and means of fighting the threat ISIL in Kobani strains ties further between the "strategic allies."

A senior US official, while acknowledging remaining tensions, told Reuters on Thursday that the high-level diplomacy, including Obama's phone talk with Erdogan, had at least prevented a further breakdown in relations between the two NATO allies.

Another factor straining the ties between the countries is that the US administration has been pressing hard to obtain expanded access to İncirlik Air Base in Adana province, which is in close proximity to ISIL targets inside both Syria and Iraq.

Reuters also quoted a US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as saying that the US believes Turkey is playing a double game in Syria, lending at least covert moral support to ISIL while avoiding doing so in public. The official did not know if Turkey was providing financial or military support to ISIL, but said Washington believes Turkey is partnering with Qatar in providing support to Islamist factions and militias in Libya.

In the meantime, former NATO Allied Land Commander Lt. Gen. Frederick Ben Hodges has said he can understand Turkey's concerns on US air-dropped weapons as ISIL is a terrible threat.

Speaking to CNN Türk on Friday, Hodges said despite the disagreements over the use of İncirlik base, it is not a crisis between the US and Turkey.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)