France on Thursday refrained from confirming whether it classifies the PKK as a terrorist group amid strains with Türkiye over the group’s Syrian presence.
“What is essential for us, in principle, is that the active groups currently in Syrian territory are included in the transition process,” said French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine in response to a question from an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter.
He reiterated President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about France having a “debt” to the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, and the “‘freedom fighters’ like the ‘Kurds’ who, during difficult years, had the courage to fight alongside us against terrorist groups.”
“I will not comment on the nature of the PKK,” he added about the terrorist group.
Allies of the YPG, which designated the PKK as a terrorist group, prefer terming its Syrian wing as a “Kurdish group.”
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 to achieve so-called Kurdish self-rule in southeastern regions and is proscribed a terrorist organization by Ankara, as well as the United States and the European Union. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants and the elderly.
The group maintains strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria for its so-called “Kurdish state” and to launch terrorist attacks inside Türkiye.
The PKK/YPG has occupied swathes of northern Syria, including oil-rich areas, since 2015, with the help of the U.S.
France is an active member of the U.S.-led coalition against the Daesh terror group and maintains a military presence in northeast Syria. Macron earlier this week assured France would not abandon the terrorist group in Syria.
The United States and France could secure the entire border to Türkiye, a PKK/YPG terrorist was quoted as saying by French public network TV5 monde.
“We ask the French to send troops to this border to secure the demilitarized zone, to help us protect the region and establish good relations with Türkiye,” Ilham Ahmed said.
Ankara this week warned Western nations against supporting the PKK/YPG in Syria.
“If you (the West) have different aims in the region, if you want to serve another policy by using Daesh as an excuse to embolden the PKK, then there is no way for that either,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
Türkiye, which has mounted multiple operations against the YPG/PKK in Syria since 2016, says the YPG/PKK is on par with Daesh and should have no presence in the new Syria.
Ankara said it trusts the new Syrian administration in the fight against the PKK/YPG but threatened military action if the terrorist group refuses to disband, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying the terrorist group either “bury their arms” or themselves would “be buried.”