Turkey sent to the US accusing it of supporting PKK after Turks Killed in Iraq
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of supporting Kurdish militants, just after that Turkish forces found the bodies of 13 Turkish soldiers, police and civilians kidnaped by Kurdish rebels in a cave complex in northern Iraq.
Erdogan also indicated a US State Department statement that condemned the detainees’ deaths, however; he added that the US would denounce the deaths in the strongest possible terms if it is affirmed that they killed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Erdogan also said: You are with them and behind, them pure and simple, in reference to Kurdish militant group and also the Syrian Kurdish groups related to the PKK that Turkey considers to be terrorists while it is an allied with the United States in the fight against the ISIS, he added: If we are together in NATO, and if we are to continue our (alliance) in NATO, you have to be sincere toward us.
Moreover, his ministry said that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu showed Turkey’s unease about recent US statements during a telephone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The ministry also stated that in their first conversation since US President Joe Biden’s administration started office last month, the two also talked about the disagreements between the NATO allies and agreed to develop an open and sincere dialogue based on mutual respect.
Otherwise, US State Department spokesman Ned Price stated that Blinken showed condolences for the deaths of the detainees and affirmed our view that PKK terrorists bear responsibility, and stressing their common interest in countering terrorism.
Furthermore, Turkey called, earlier Monday, US Ambassador David Satterfield to the Foreign Ministry about the previous statement.
It should note that the victims were found in the Gara region, next the Turkish border, during an operation against the PKK that had aimed to liberate the detainees. Twelve of the victims were shot in the head and one died of a shoulder bullet wound. The 13 were kidnapped inside Turkey in 2015 and 2016.
In the same context, Erdogan declared that 51 PKK fighters were murdered during the latest attack and promised to go ahead with cross-border offensives. He also said: We have the power, capability and determination to come down hard on the terrorists everywhere.
According to a statement carried by the PKK-linked Firat news agency, the PKK related that prisoners of war comprising members of the Turkish security forces and intelligence agency were murdered as a result of Turkish air attacks.
The defense ministry has stated that three Turkish forces also died during the operation to free the hostages and three others were injured. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK that is designated a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, started an insurgency in Turkey’s majority Kurdish southeast region in 1984.
