Istanbul — Turkey does not need the United States and wants to rip it out of the region, said Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu during a public rally in the first week of September.
In a video uploaded by CNN Türk Youtube channel, Soylu claimed that the United States is behind the PKK and PYD militias as well as sectarian problems in the Middle East. He said, Turkey does not “need” America or Europe, as the West wants to separate the Turks from their culture and their faith.
“America holds the patent for the PKK and the PYD. They are their servants. In the past three years, the U.S. Senate has formally given the PKK and the PYD $2 billion in aid”, the Minister said.
“If America did not provide security for the PKK and PYD, it would not be able to walk [even] half a meter in the Middle East. They would not be able to hide in any cave”, he added.
He continued, “We do not need America. We do not need Europe. It would separate us from each other, from our culture, from our religion, from our faith, from our belief”.
“When will the [PKK and PYD] terror organizations be finished off? It will soon be finished off in Turkey, do not worry. With Allah’s permission and blessing. But just that is not enough for us. We should rip it out of the region around us. Also, know that while we are ripping out the terror organization, we want to rip America out”, Soylu added.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), also known as Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê in Kurdish, is the primary rebel organization. Even while the Kurdish-Turkish conflict has affected numerous areas, the majority of the fighting has occurred in northern Kurdistan, which is equivalent to southeast Turkey. The Turkish Armed Forces frequently conduct ground incursions, airstrikes, and artillery strikes in the region as a result of the PKK’s presence in Iraqi Kurdistan. Between $300 and 450 billion have been lost to the conflict in Turkey’s economy, largely in military expenditures. It has impacted Turkey’s tourism as well.
The Kurdish-Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and different Kurdish insurgent groups that have either called for the creation of an independent Kurdistan or have sought to grant Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey more political and cultural rights and autonomy.
