UN official rebuts statements targeting Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts

The Turkish Permanent Representative to the United Nations Feridun Siniroglu has criticised condemnatory remarks made against the Turkish Armed Forces' strikes on the facilities of the terrorist organisation YPG/PKK in northern Syria.

The diplomat pointed out the inadmissibility of supporting the PKK terrorists hiding behind the names PYD and YPG in northern Syria, as well as calling themselves the "Syrian Democratic Forces", Anadolu Agency reports.

He said the use of the word "democratic" in the name of the terrorist organisation was an insult to democracy.

"You can change the name of this terrorist organisation as much as you want. But its intentions remain the same," Sinirlioglu told the UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

He called "detached from reality" the allegations that the Turkish Armed Forces’ counter-terrorist operations against the PKK/YPG could negatively affect the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Sinirlioglu also noted that changing the name of the YPG/PKK cannot change the fact that it is a terrorist organisation with the blood of "Turkish and Syrian civilians" on its hands.