Turkey says Kurdish armed groups in Syria ‘legitimate targets’

The spokesperson for the Turkish presidency has told Al Jazeera that Kurdish armed groups in Syria are “legitimate targets”, and accused them of exploiting ties with the United States to justify their presence along Turkey’s border with Syria.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara is after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its offshoots the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) groups to protect its borders.

Ankara has blamed the outlawed PKK, YPG and their affiliated groups for the November 13 Istanbul blast as well as previous attacks. The PKK has been waging a decades-long bloody armed rebellion for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast. Ankara, along with its NATO allies – the US and European Union – have declared the PKK a “terrorist” organisation.

“For us, any and all PKK, PYD, YPG establishments, elements, posts, military points are legitimate targets for us,” Kalin said during the interview with the Talk to Al Jazeera programme, whether they are in Syria or Turkey.

“They are legitimate targets because they are terrorist organisations,” he continued. “We go after them to protect our borders. We don’t target Russian or American soldiers or military posts in Syria or anywhere else.”