Turkey expects concrete steps from the U.S. for its security regarding the situation of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot People's Protection Units (YPG), Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy said Friday.
The U.S. has been a party to the combat in Syria since 2014 with the initial aim of supporting the opposition with non-lethal aid against the Syrian regime along with France, the U.K. and Canada. Within this context, the country initiated the "train-and-equip" program. However, Washington's support swiftly changed into armed support for the YPG by the Obama administration under the pretext of fighting Daesh. Ankara has objected to the decision since, saying that partnering with one terrorist group to fight another is illogical and opens opportunities for new terrorist organizations to flourish in the country.
The spokesman reiterated that a planned safe zone near the Syria-Turkey border needed to be controlled by Turkey, and wanted it to be 32-kilometers deep into Syria's territory.
Turkey is also trying to convince the U.S. to allow refiner Tüpraş, the country's biggest oil importer, to continue buying crude oil from Iran free of sanctions, Aksoy said.
Washington on Monday said it will not renew exemptions granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, including Turkey, and it demanded that buyers stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions.
The decision was more stringent than expected, and caught several key importers who have been pleading with Washington to continue buying Iranian oil sanctions-free.
Aksoy also said that Turkey is a part F-35 program and Turkish officials tell their U.S. counterparts in every level of meetings that linking this issue to Turkey's S-400 missile defense system from Russia is not correct. "We carry out our payments regularly, our pilots are receiving training there and we will not back down from this.," Aksoy said.
He criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for his decision to declare April 24 as the day to commemorate the so-called "Armenian Genocide."
"The administration in France is not aware of the gravity of this step. France has the responsibility in the massacres against Turks by arming Armenians. They are after building up an agenda through Armenians," Aksoy said.
The spokesperson said that Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will visit Iraqi capital Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) seat Irbil on April 28 and 29 to meet Iraqi president, prime minister, foreign minister, KRG prime minister, deputy prime minister and chairman of the security council.
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