President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Thursday the Western world for being hypocritical in fight against terrorism, saying Turkey's Western allies turn a blind eye to terror activities by the PKK terrorists and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Speaking at TRT World Forum in Istanbul Erdoğan criticized the U.S. support to the PKK terror organization's Syria affiliate the People's Democratic Union (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), saying that the West is picking and choosing between terror groups is not the way to fight against terrorism.
"Who is siding with PYD and YPG against Daesh terror group? The America. Is it logical eliminate a terror group with another terror group? I have told this to Mr. Trump, that is way I am saying this here openly."
"PYD is in Afrin. Can we stay quiet against the PYD? We will continue to fight against terrorism till the end," he added.
The president criticized the EU states and the U.S. for turning a blind eye to terror activities within their borders, saying "Despite Turkey has given the documents proving the terrorist activities of them, these terrorists keep walking around Europe, especially in Germany, quite freely. In Germany, they made a demonstration in detention and announced my death warrant. When I ask about this to Merkel, she looks at the ones who are surrounding her. PKK and FETÖ terrorists make demonstrations when I was going to the residence in the US. The two detained PKK terrorists in there released afterwards. Yet, the two patriots who detained in there as well are still under detention. If my party, which won the election with a great majority, is judged by the West, then I suspect that West."
ERDOĞAN QUESTIONS US PARTNERSHIP OVER VISA ROW
President Erdoğan on Thursday questioned the sincerity of the U.S. strategic partnership with Turkey following a recent visa row.
The row was sparked on Oct. 8, when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced the suspension of non-immigrant visa services for Turkish nationals, following the arrest of a local employee at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara.
"Who said this? The ambassador in Ankara. Who is this ambassador? If he [the ambassador] can just say 'we suspended the visas' in a paragraph on behalf of the great U.S., then I will have to reconsider the strategic partnership," he said, at the closing session of the TRT World Forum in Istanbul, referring to the outgoing U.S. Ambassador John Bass.
Metin Topuz, a U.S. consulate employee, was arrested last week over alleged ties to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year's defeated coup attempt in Turkey.
Erdoğan also said that there is an ongoing injustice around the world, where the economically strong is portrayed as the just and right ones.
"Unfortunately there is no justice in the world. We live in a time that the strong, particularly in economic terms, is presented as the right. A world that the strong ones are right, not where the right is the strong one. It is not possible to accept a world like that."
Ankara accuses FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen of orchestrating the defeated coup which martyred 250 people and wounded nearly 2,200.
