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Turkey’s Bozdağ: If US wants no confrontation, must stop arming terrorists

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Bekir Bozdağ (Mehmet Murat Onel / Anadolu Agency)

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Thursday said if the US does not want a confrontation with Turkey, it should stop arming terrorist organizations, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

“If the US administration does not want to confront Turkey – and they don’t want that, neither does Turkey — the solution is clear: Cut off support to terrorists,” Bozdağ said on A Haber TV.

Bozdağ called on the US to stop arming the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which it sees as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Bozdağ’s statement came a day after the White House released a readout of a phone conversation between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump.

According to the statement Trump warned Erdoğan against the growing risk of conflict between the two nations.

Erdoğan demanded that Washington end its support for Kurdish militias.

Turkey on Saturday launched Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin region, which is controlled by the PYD.

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