Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday says the West was breaking promises in Syria, accusing Ankara’s partners of backing “terror groups” including IS jihadists in the country.
“The coalition forces are unfortunately not keeping their promises,” Erdogan says at a news conference alongside visiting Guinean President Alpha Conde.
“Whether they do or they don’t, we will continue along this path in a determined way. There is no going back on the path we have set out on,” he adds.
Turkey has met the fiercest resistance yet of the campaign in the fight for Al-Bab, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Turkish border.
Erdogan complains that rather than supporting Turkey, the West was backing the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD), who work with the United States on the ground in Syria, and also IS.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech on December 20, 2016 in Istanbul, during the opening ceremony of the Avrasya (Eurasia) Tunnel, the first ever road tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul from Europe to Asia and the latest project in the Erdogan’s plan of transforming Turkey’s infrastructure. (AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE)
“They are supporting all the terror groups — the YPG, PYD but also including Daesh (IS),” Erdogan says.
“It’s quite clear, perfectly obvious,” he says, adding that Turkey could provide proof in pictures and video.
Erdogan had made a similar claim on a visit to Pakistan in November alleging that “the West stands by Daesh right now” and its weapons were Western-made.
— AFP
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