Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long insisted that the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) are terror organizations that are more dangerous than the Islamic State (IS). If one day he sees YPG flags in the corridors of the European Parliament, Erdogan will swear never to return to Brussels. Remember 2009, when he silenced Israeli President Shimon Peres with his now infamous upbraiding, announcing, “I do not think I will be coming back to Davos after this.”
Northern Syria’s PYD and YPG are steadily expanding their legitimacy in Europe. The YPG flags on the doors and walls of the European Parliament are but a small indicator that Ankara’s protests have made no impact.