US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner. (Source: Cihan)
WASHINGTON (Today’s Zaman) — The United States has insisted on backing Syrian Kurdish militias in their fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), dismissing the Turkish president’s demand that Washington end its relationship with Syrian Kurds and recognize them as terrorists.
US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner avoided responding directly to the comments of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and repeatedly highlighted the importance of Turkey, a major US ally, in efforts to destroy ISIL. Toner, who spoke to reporters in Washington, reiterated that the US has not changed its position in viewing Kurdish militias as their partners and not terrorists.
The war of words between the US and Turkey has continued for a third day straight, with Erdogan bashing Washington for refusing to recognize the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units, (YPG) as terrorists. The intercontinental squabble was kicked off after US President Barack Obama’s envoy Brett McGurk visited Kobani — a Syrian border town that was a symbol of Kurdish resistance to ISIL’s advance — and met with Kurds there.
Erdogan asked the US to choose between his country and the “terrorists in Kobani.â€
