U.S. Spurns Turkey Demand to Cut Kurdish Ties After Bombing

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. said it won’t break off ties to a Kurdish militia that’s fighting Islamic State in Syria, rebuffing the demands of NATO member Turkey, which blames the group for a bombing in the capital Ankara this week.

Turkey says Wednesday’s attack on a military bus, which killed 28 people, was carried out by the PKK and its Syrian affiliates. The U.S. agrees with Turkey that the PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s Kurdish regions for three decades, is a terrorist group. But the status of the Kurdish fighters in Syria has been straining ties between the NATO allies, as their interests there diverge after more than five years of war.

The U.S. says defeating Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is the overwhelming priority. Turkey has signed up for that goal, but it’s also trying to prop up rebels in northwest Syria fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, whose Russian-backed army threatens to encircle them. The Syrian Kurds are in position to cut off vital supply lines to Aleppo, where the opposition groups are holed up, and their territorial gains may also set an example for Kurds seeking autonomy inside Turkey.

At a briefing in Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed condolences for the loss of life in Turkey, and praised the country for its contribution to the fight against Islamic State in Syria. But he rejected the increasingly vocal calls from Turkish leaders for the U.S. to choose between its ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Syrian Kurds.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-18/u-s-spurns-turkey-s-demand-to-cut-kurdish-ties-after-bombing

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Turkey may close Incirlik Air Base for US – president’s adviser

If the US does not recognize the Kurdish Workers’ Party’s (PKK) Syrian wing – Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as the terrorist organization, Turkey may close its Incirlik Air Base for the US Armed Forces, Seref Malkoch, Turkish president’s adviser said, Turkish Bugun newspaper reported Feb. 19.

Without recognizing PYD as a terrorist organization the US indirectly shows that the country agrees with PYD’s activities, he noted.

“If the US is a Turkey’s friend and partner in reality, it has to recognize PYD as a terrorist organization,” said Malkoch.

A terror attack was carried out in Ankara Feb. 17 near the buildings of the Turkish parliament, the general staff and a military dorm in the city.

http://en.trend.az/world/turkey/2496665.html

[GummyBearz]

1. Turkey's approach to the Kurdish people is disgusting

Let them piss and moan about this. They wont be closing any of our bases if they want to stay in NATO

[bemildred]

2. Erdoğan slams intellectuals who opposed joining Syria war in petition

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lambasted the academics and intellectuals who have voiced their objection to the possibility of Turkey going to war in Syria by signing a petition titled “No to War in Syria” on Thursday, accusing them of raising a generation of violent students who wreaked havoc in Turkey's universities.

“They have nothing to do with intellectualism. Just because they have the title of professor, does not mean they are intellectuals. They put guns into the hands of their students and turned universities into bloodbaths. They can no longer do it so they go berserk,” Erdoğan told reporters following the Friday prayer.

A total of 202 prominent figures in Turkey, including journalists, academics, politicians and activists, have voiced their objection to the possibility of Turkey going to war in Syria in a petition they signed on Thursday.

In the petition, signatories said the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government declared all international powers that are involved in Syria -- including Russia, Iran, the US and the European Union -- enemies, along with Syria's regime under President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

http://www.todayszaman.com/national_erdogan-slams-intellectuals-who-opposed-joining-syria-war-in-petition_412811.html