Turkey rejects cease-fire claims with PKK/PYD

Turkey's European Union Minister Ömer Çelik has refuted the allegations that there had been a cease-fire agreement between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD).

"The Republic of Turkey is an independent, lawful state. It cannot be evaluated as if Turkey and PKK/PYD were equal and there was an agreement between them," said Çelik, during his speech at Anadolu Agency's Editors' Desk.

"PYD's activities in northern Syria benefit terror groups, not Kurdish people," said Çelik.

EU Minister Çelik said that the United States has been using PYD against Daesh and it is a sign of a possible move by the U.S. to use Daesh against another terrorist group considered to be more dangerous than Daesh.

The Minister also touched upon the attitude of the Western countries over the July 15 coup bid, that targeted the democratically-elected government of Turkey and triggered a violent incident that killed around 250 people.

"Turkey has allies in Europe. However, there are still some representatives who didn't call us to express their sorrow over the coup bid," said Çelik, adding that he was disappointed by the statement of the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini who called Turkey for sobriety.

"Staying calm means not resisting to the happenings. You cannot and should not stay calm when someone points a gun to you. EU countries should have supported Turkey on behalf of the democracy, human rights, the rule of law," the minister said.

Minister Çelik also criticized Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, over his words saying Turkey needs the money that the EU promised to pay as a part of the deal on visas for Turkish citizens and renewed talks on joining the 28-nation bloc.

"Turkey doesn't need that money. Turkey is not a purchasable country," Çelik said.

The Minister said that Russia and Turkey had substantially overcome the crisis over the downing of a Russian jet which violated the airspace in November, 2015.

“Overcoming the jet crisis is also for the benefit of the world," said the Minister, adding that Russia is not a substitute for the EU for Turkey.

Çelik also criticized Germany's European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger who said on Saturday that Turkey would probably not join the EU while President Erdoğan was president, targeting Turkey's leader directly.

“The parties who desire a Turkey without Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan probably wouldn't be pleased with Turkey without Erdoğan as well, “he said.