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This content was published on Feb 15, 2021 at Jul 22:38,
By Simon Lewis, Touan Jamrakji
ANKARA (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed to Ankara on Monday that Washington blamed the PKK for the killing of 13 hijacked Turks in northern Iraq, after Turkey outlined an earlier US statement. about the incident as a “joke”.
On Sunday, Turkey said militants from the illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) executed the kidnapped men, including members of the army and police, amid a military operation in northern Iraq where the group was holding them.
The United States said it supports Turkey, a member of NATO itself, and condemns the killing if it is confirmed that the responsibility lies with the PKK.
Turkey, already angered by US support for Kurdish fighters in neighboring Syria, was upset by the condition in the US statement and summoned the US ambassador to Ankara on Monday.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that in a phone call to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday, Blinken confirmed: “Our view is that the PKK terrorists are responsible.”
Price did not disclose whether the call was made in response to Turkey summoning the US ambassador. A contact between two high-level diplomats in the two countries was expected to take place weeks ago.
This is the first call between Blinken and his Turkish counterpart, about four weeks after US President Joe Biden assumed the presidency of the country. Biden has yet to speak to Erdogan, a delay some see as an understatement from an important ally.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Washington, which classifies the PKK as a terrorist organization, but has deployed American forces fighting in Syria alongside fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considered linked to the outlawed party. .
“Now a statement has been issued from the United States. It’s a joke. Weren’t they supposed to stand up to the PKK and the YPG? Obviously, he supports them and is behind them,” Erdogan told Justice and Development supporters. Party (AKP) in the city of Rize, on the Black Sea.
On Monday, Cavusoglu also protested the silence of “countries that allegedly say they are fighting terrorism,” adding that they are trying to “turn a blind eye” to the issue “by evading.”
Since Joe Biden was elected US president last year, Turkey has repeatedly said it wants to improve strained relations with Washington, but US support for the Kurdish YPG militia has angered Ankara and remains at the center of a dispute. between the two allies.
Erdogan said Ankara will continue its cross-border operations within Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey that has killed more than 40,000 people.
“If we are together in NATO, and if we want to continue our unity, then they must act sincerely towards us. They must be with us and not with the terrorists,” Erdogan said.
He added that no one has the right to criticize Turkey’s cross-border operations in Syria or Iraq after these killings, and countries must choose between Turkey or the militants.
(Prepared by Sameh Al-Khatib, Muhammad Abd Allah and Yahya Khalaf for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Muhammad Al-Yamani)