The US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken acknowledged Turkey’s concerns about the PYD.
"Turkey is one of our closest allies. It’s collaboration in dealing with the crisis in Syria is absolutely vital and we are indeed working very closely together with it," Blinken told a UN news conference on Wednesday according to Today’s Zaman.
"It is also not a secret that Turkey has expressed concerns about some of the Syrian Kurdish groups in northern Syria, including the PYD. We have made it very clear to the PYD that any action it takes to either support the PKK or to engage the other opposition groups are profoundly problematic and we look to the PYD to act responsibly and focus its efforts on the fight against Daesh [Islamic State]," he elaborated.
His comments came as Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said the US’s Syria strategy was flawed since it was predicated on depending upon a “small terror organization.”
In an exclusive interview to AFP he reiterated the Turkish line that the PYD is no different than the PKK and argued that, "YPG [Peoples Protection Units] and PYD is part of the PKK. A change in the name does not change its nature. If you call an apple a pear, it is still an apple."
Turkey has long regarded the PYD as a mere extension of the PKK. However the US have found the PYD and its armed wing, the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), to be a useful ally on the ground in Syria against Islamic State.
