Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected a French offer to mediate between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria that have been blacklisted by Ankara.
His comments on Friday came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a delegation of Kurdish fighters in Paris and offered to mediate between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – and the Turkish government.
“Who are you to mediate between Turkey and a terror group?” Erdogan said at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital, Ankara.
“Those who host at the highest level the members of a terrorist organisation, which has been freely carrying out its activities in their countries, should be aware that this is nothing but an expression of hostility against Turkey,” he said.
Turkey considers the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), active in Syria, and its armed wing the YPG to be “terrorist groups” with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody armed rebellion for decades.
France does not have the right to complain about the actions of any armed group on its soil after meeting with the representatives of the PYD and the YPG, the Turkish leader said.
