MESOP : ERDOGANS HIRES CIA EX-DIRECTOR – Former CIA Director to Lobby for Turkey / Porter Goss might lobby against the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD)

NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY) – Basnews – 12 May 2015 – WASHINGTON – Porter Goss, a director of the CIA under the Bush administration, has been hired by Turkey’s government to lobby Congress on matters including counter-terrorism, energy-security and stability, Bloomberg reports.It is suspected he will also lobby against the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Turkey has been criticised for not doing enough to fight Islamic State (IS) – allowing IS fighters to cross Turkish borders and blocking aid to the Syrian Kurds that were fighting IS in the city of Kobani.Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised the US for delivering weapons to the Kurds in Kobani. He also said for Turkey the PYD in Syria is no different from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has waged a decades long battle against the Turkish state.However, there are voices in both Washington and Europe that believes more should be done to help the Kurds fighting IS in both Iraq and Syria. It is most likely that Turkey would lobby against any help for the PYD.