Turkish foreign minister says he communicated to US counterpart about violations of Turkey-US deal by YPG/PKK terror group
Turkish foreign minister said on Wednesday that there are violations of the agreement done by Turkey and the U.S. over northern Syria and he communicated these to his U.S. counterpart.
Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo in Brussels on the sidelines of NATO Foreign Ministers meeting.
In a press conference Cavusoglu held in Brussels, he commented about the content of his meeting with Pompeo.
Cavusoglu said there are violations of the agreement done by Turkey and the U.S. regarding northern Syria.
Ankara and Washington reached a deal on Oct. 17 to pause Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria for 120 hours to allow the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the planned safe zone.
Cavusoglu said he communicated to Pompeo about the violations and terror attacks that YPG/PKK is doing in northern Syria.
He said that the agreement has to be fulfilled.
On Oct. 22, Turkey also reached an agreement with Russia to allow the YPG/PKK terror group to withdraw from the safe zone.
Turkey wants to repatriate some two million Syrian refugees, which it is currently hosting, in the safe zone after clearing it of terrorists.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.
Cavusoglu said Turkey and the U.S. have different opinions over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.
"There will be a meeting over this issue in Ankara on Friday," Cavusoglu said.
Turkey's acquisition of the advanced Russian air-defense system prompted the Trump administration to remove Turkey from the F-35 fifth-generation joint strike fighter program in July.
The U.S. maintains that the system could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details on the jet and is incompatible with NATO systems.
Turkey, however, counters that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.
Cavusoglu also met with his U.K. counterpart Dominic Raab, President of EU Parliament David Sassoli and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the sidelines of the meeting.
