FILE PHOTO: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attends the Istanbul Mediation Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, October 31, 2019. Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
November 28, 2019
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s critique of Turkey’s offensive in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, saying the French leader sponsors terrorism.
“He is already the sponsor of the terrorist organization and constantly hosts them at the Elysee. If he says his ally is the terrorist organization…there is really nothing more to say,” Cavusoglu told reporters in parliament.
Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist organization and launched its offensive in northeast Syria on Oct. 9.
Last month, Macron met with Jihane Ahmed, the spokeswoman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), of which the YPG is a big part, to express France’s solidarity with them in their fight against Islamic State in Syria.
Earlier on Thursday, Macron said that Turkey cannot expect solidarity from NATO allies at the same time that it launched its Syria offensive as a “fait accompli.”
Cavusoglu added: “Macron cannot be the leader of Europe by wobbling like this. Right now, there is a void in Europe, he is trying to be its leader.”
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
