ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will help capture the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS, telling US President Barack Obama to exclude Syrian Kurdish forces from that operation.
“We do not need terrorist organizations like the PYD [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party] and YPG [Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units] in the Raqqa operation. Let us work together to sweep Daesh [ISIS] from Raqqa,” Erdogan told Obama in their phone call on Thursday, according to Hurriyet news.
“Now we’re advancing toward al-Bab because it’s one of their important centers. They will have to abandon al-Bab as well and then we’ll head to Manbij and Raqqa. I had a long conversation with Mr. Obama last night and I told him that we’ll take these steps,” Erdogan said later at an address to families of fallen soldiers.
“I also told him this: We don’t need terror organizations like the PYD and the YPG in Raqqa,” he added, “the PYD and PKK are the same. ‘Let’s together oust Daesh from Raqqa together. We have this power,’ we told him.”
Turkey intervened in the Syria conflict on August 24 in support of hundreds of Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels who forced ISIS back from the Turkish border. Ankara plans to move on to Al-Bab, which is still occupied by ISIS, and then head east from there to force the YPG out of Manbij, who captured that city from ISIS while fighting under the flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mid-August, before moving eastward again towards Raqqa.
“We do not need terrorist organizations like the PYD [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party] and YPG [Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units] in the Raqqa operation. Let us work together to sweep Daesh [ISIS] from Raqqa,” Erdogan told Obama in their phone call on Thursday, according to Hurriyet news.
“Now we’re advancing toward al-Bab because it’s one of their important centers. They will have to abandon al-Bab as well and then we’ll head to Manbij and Raqqa. I had a long conversation with Mr. Obama last night and I told him that we’ll take these steps,” Erdogan said later at an address to families of fallen soldiers.
“I also told him this: We don’t need terror organizations like the PYD and the YPG in Raqqa,” he added, “the PYD and PKK are the same. ‘Let’s together oust Daesh from Raqqa together. We have this power,’ we told him.”
Turkey intervened in the Syria conflict on August 24 in support of hundreds of Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels who forced ISIS back from the Turkish border. Ankara plans to move on to Al-Bab, which is still occupied by ISIS, and then head east from there to force the YPG out of Manbij, who captured that city from ISIS while fighting under the flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in mid-August, before moving eastward again towards Raqqa.
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