Turkey will "soon" share evidence that the United States has supplied the PKK/PYD terrorist organization with arms, the country's foreign minister said Friday.
Speaking to foreign media representatives in Istanbul, Mevlut Cavusoglu said the U.S. "is repeating a mistake" with the approval of secret cooperation between the Daesh and PKK/PYD terrorist groups in Syria.
A recent PKK/PYD deal to allow hundreds of Daesh terrorists to escape Raqqa has received a strong reaction from Turkey.
Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon on Tuesday defended the deal, saying it was part of a "local solution to a local issue".
But Cavusoglu warned that "YPG [PKK/PYD] is gaining more and more territory, which is a very risky development".
Referring to the "good cooperation between YPG and Daesh - between two terrorist organizations,” he said:
"Nobody denies it. We have been telling our U.S. allies and others in the coalition that there is no difference between YPG and the PKK and that YPG is not fighting for freedom or the unity of the country but fighting to gain more territory in the country."
Criticizing the U.S. for not keeping its promise that PKK/PYD forces would withdraw from Raqqa, he said:
"They have not been able to pull back YPG from any town... Now, you see the statement which said they would continue to work with YPG."
"We are going to share soon the photos and evidence showing weapons that the U.S. has been giving to YPG and also weapons made in other coalition states, including Germany."
- Afrin: a serious threat
As for the northwestern Syrian province of Afrin, the minister said there were also terrorists in the region which targeted Turkey.
"They attack our security personnel, and they are using the weapons given by some countries in the coalition," he said.
"Afrin poses a serious threat to our national security. So wherever there are terrorists, we need to eliminate them."
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are reportedly planning to set up 12 observation and security points in Idlib as part of the Astana peace process while preparing to extend the operation to Afrin and Manbij.
Turkish troops will be deployed to strategic points in Idlib, near its border with Afrin and Manbij, to monitor the region to prevent clashes between Syrian opposition fighters and Assad regime forces as well as outline a plan for an upcoming operation in the other two areas.
The Turkish military has already established six observation posts across Idlib.
Cavusoglu said the main role of the observers was to find out "who is violating the ceasefire".
"It is not an easy task," he said. "We need to identify all the radical groups and we need to eliminate them."
The minister also shared that Turkey had stopped and deported more than 5,000 foreign fighters in the past 4-5 years.
Around 3,000 others are under arrest in Turkey, he said.
- Upcoming Syria talks in Sochi
On the Astana talks, Cavusoglu said: "We have been cooperating with Russia and we made a lot of progress."
"It has been a transparent process," he said. "Russia did a great job there. Turkey also has been a main actor and Iran also contributed. We agreed to make an assessment of the achievements."
Cavusoglu said both Turkey and Russia supported a political solution and the territorial integrity of war-torn Syria.
He underlined the need for "a transition period" during which he said all sides should be united.
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran will meet in Turkey's Mediterranean city of Antalya on the weekend ahead of a trilateral meeting on Syria in Russia’s Sochi city next Wednesday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take part in the meeting in the Russian resort on Nov. 22 as well as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The three guarantor countries will discuss the progress on reducing violence in Syria and de-escalation zones which were established after the Astana talks.
- Relations with the U.S.
Asked about bilateral relations between Turkey and the U.S., the minister said: "Overall, I cannot say that I am very much disappointed with Mr. Trump."
However, he added that the U.S. policy towards PKK/PYD "has unfortunately not changed".