ANKARA, Turkey - US Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday that the Kurdistan Workers´ Party or PKK is a “terrorist group” and there is “no difference” between them and the Islamic State and al-Nusra.
Biden's remarks came during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul.
"They are simply terrorist groups and here in Turkey, they threaten and do harm and are of severe consequence to the interest of the people of Turkey and we do recognize that," he said, quoted by the local news agency Anadolu.
The PKK has been fighting in Turkey during three decades for more rights for the Kurdish community, while the Islamic State and al-Nusra are fighting in Syria and Iraq and are affiliated to extremist Islamic views.
Biden was quoted by the agency saying that he believed that the vast majority of Kurds wanted to live in peace but that the PKK had shown no desire or inclination to do so.
Reiterating that Ankara was a "strategic partner" of the US, Biden said Turkey has been taking "very important" steps to improve security in its border where ISIS is reigning terror.
Biden said Turkey and the United States were coordinating ever more precisely on what is a "shared mission on the extermination of ISIL"(or ISIS).
Biden also was quoted by the newspaper Hurriyet Daily News as saying that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution in Syria against ISIS if a political settlement was not possible.
"We do know it would better if we can reach a political solution but we are prepared..., if that's not possible, to have a military solution to this operation and taking out Daesh," Biden said, using the Arabic term for ISIS.
Davutoglu also said terrorism did not threaten only one country, rather it threatened all neighbouring countries.
"Whichever ethnicity terrorism is coming from, it is a humanitarian crime. We do not see any difference between PKK, al-Nusra, DHKP-C (the Revolutionary People´s Liberation Party-Front), Daesh," said Davutoglu.
Davutoglu added both the US and Turkey were sensitive to the fight against all terror organizations.
"Turkey sees three threats in Syria: One is the regime, another is Daesh, and third is the YPG (the armed Kurdish forces of the Democratic Union Party or PYD in northern Syria)," said Davutoglu, adding that the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) was part of the terrorist organization PKK.
The PYD is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US.
Davutoglu also said the PKK presence in Iraq required that Turkey bring the fight to the PKK and Daesh in the region.
Biden also talked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a meeting was closed to press.
