Turkey’s Erdogan says Ankara won’t let Kurds ‘seize’ northern Syria entirely

ISTANBUL,— Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Kurdish groups on Saturday of trying to grab control of Syrian Kurdistan (northern Syria), saying Ankara would not allow this to happen.

25 Oct 2015 – MESOP – In a speech in southeast Turkey, Erdogan also blasted Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for hosting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this week, in comments that were his most critical yet towards his Russian counterpart.On northern Syria, Erdogan denounced the merging of the Syrian mix town of Gire Spi (Tel Abyad) last week into an autonomous political structure created by the Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) the west part of greater Kurdistan.

“All they want is to seize northern Syria entirely,” Erdogan said. “We will under no circumstances allow northern Syria to become a victim of their scheming. Because this constitutes a threat for us, and it is not possible for us as Turkey to say ‘yes’ to this threat.”

Gire Spi, on the border with Turkey, was captured in June from Islamic State by Kurdish YPG militia with help from U.S.-led air strikes. Last week, a local leadership council declared it part of the system of autonomous self government established by the Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan. www.mesop.de