Turkey's president on Friday lashed out against the U.S. and some European countries for failing to support Turkey's fight against terrorism.
Speaking to reporters after the D-8 summit in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan singled out recent public displays in support of terrorist groups and terrorist group leaders.
U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces seized Raqqa this week, forcing the militants from what was once their de facto capital. The liberation of Raqqa was officially proclaimed on Friday.
Amid the celebrations, the PKK affiliated PYD terrorists have hung up posters of jailed PKK ringleader Abdullah Öcalan.
Turkey has been fighting against PKK terrorists within its borders and labeled PKK a terrorist group.
"HOW CAN USA EXPLAIN THIS?" ERDOĞAN ASKS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced the display during a speech in Istanbul.
Referring to a banner of convicted terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan being displayed by U.S.-supported forces after taking the city of Raqqah, Syria, this week, Erdoğan said: "They [PKK/PYD] hung a poster of the terrorist leader somewhere there in Raqqah. How can America explain this? When you speak, you say the PKK is a 'terrorist organization'."
Despite recognizing the PKK as a terrorist group -- and against strong Turkish protests -- the U.S. has long armed and equipped the Syrian PKK/PYD, calling it a "reliable ally" in its war against Daesh.
TURKISH PRESIDENT HARSHLY SLAMS EU OF PROTECTING PKK TERROR GROUP
The Turkish leader also accused the European Union nations of publicly calling the "PKK a terror organization" but allegedly protecting the group.
Referring to a weekend incident in which supporters of the PKK terrorist organization hung a poster of Öcalan from the Paris headquarters of a major news agency, Agence France Presse (AFP), Erdoğan added: "France also hung a poster of the terrorist leader from a building of its own state TV. Police watched it [happening] from there. How can they explain this?"
Erdoğan continued: "They [the PKK] march in Germany. During the march, under police supervision, there is every kind of chant, and they march together with those posters."
On Monday, around 500 pro-PKK demonstrators gathered at Kennedy Square in Frankfurt and shouted anti-Turkey slogans, without any confrontation from the police.
Some of the PKK sympathizers carried banned posters and flags of the terrorist group, although Germany's Interior Ministry prohibited such posters and flags earlier this year.
TURKEY'S ERDOĞAN: "WE DO NOT BELIEVE YOU"
Erdoğan added: "When we hold bilateral talks, they say, 'We stand by you in fight against terrorism.' We do not believe you. You do not stand by us.
"If you stood by us, you would not protect all of these with the police." he concluded.
The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and U.S. -- has killed more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians since July 2015.
