ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey has condemned French President Emmanuel Macron’s Monday meeting with a high-level delegation from northeast Syria (Rojava), describing their ties as a threat to the country’s security.
Turkey condemns the meeting of “French President Emmanuel Macron with the members of the so-called ‘Syria Democratic Council’ led by PYD/YPG, the offshoot of PKK terrorist organization in Syria,” spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tanju Bilgic said on Tuesday.
“The ongoing relation of France with this separatist bloody-handed terrorist organization and its affiliates undermines Turkey’s national security,” Bilgic added, noting the “efforts to ensure regional stability and to preserve political unity and territorial integrity of Syria.”
Turkey considers Rojava’s People’s Protection Units (YPG) to have ties to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), an armed group that has fought a decades-long war with the Turkish state for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds. It sees both as terror groups.
Macron received an Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) delegation and other officials from Rojava at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
In the meeting, the French president underlined “the necessity of working for political stability in northeast Syria, and inclusive governance,” French media cited the presidency as saying.
Macron reiterated his support for Rojava “until a stable situation is achieved in Syria and the region,” co-chair of the Executive Council Berivan Khaled, told Hawar News (ANHA).
Khaled was accompanied by the co-president of SDC and a leader of Deir ez Zor’s civil council.
Delegations from Rojava have visited France several times in the past.
Ankara has thorny relations with France, and it has slammed its NATO ally for its support for Kurds in Syria.