Anyone who backs PKK, including US, to face Turkey’s response: Deputy PM

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Government Spokesman Bekir Bozdağ said on Thursday that any party who backs or patronizes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terror group, including the U.S., will face Turkey’s response.

Bozdağ stressed that Turkey’s fight with the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the PYD, adds “great support” to Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, noting that no civilian was killed or hurt in Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch.

The deputy PM also warned that the Assad regime or affiliated militias will be targeted if they entered Afrin posing as YPG/PYD terrorists.

The pro-Assad group, which calls itself “Popular Units,” attempted to cross to the northern town of al-Ziyara from the village of Nubbol on Tuesday, and was shelled as a warning by Turkish artillery and drones 10 kilometers from the Afrin city center, forcing it to retreat back to where it came from.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone on Tuesday, where the former warned of “consequences” if the Syrian regime continues on this path.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu addressed the issue by saying that “if the regime wants to enter to clear the YPG then there’s no problem, but if it was interfering to protect it, then no one can stop us.”

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to clear PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, northwestern Syria.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from terrorist oppression and cruelty.

The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.

The military also said only terror targets were being destroyed and the "utmost care and sensitivity" were being used to not harm civilians.