Erdogan links antifa to Kurdish groups
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump today that Kurdish groups in Turkey and Syria are working with the anarchist group allegedly linked to violence at otherwise peaceful protests in the United States.
Turkey tried today again to connect protests against police violence in the United States to Kurdish groups in the Middle East.
In a call with US President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that people committing acts of violence and looting in the United States are cooperating with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Erdogan and Trump also discussed Libya, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
The PKK fights for greater Kurdish political rights in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization by both Ankara and Washington. The YPG in Syria shares a communalist ideology with the PKK but denies further links. The United States backs the YPG in its fight against the Islamic State. Turkey strongly and vocally opposes this support, believing the YPG to be the Syrian version of the PKK.
Erdogan’s comments are related to the antifa movement in the United States. The loosely organized movement — whose name means anti-fascist — has allegedly been involved in many anti-Trump demonstrations — some of them violent — as well as the ongoing George Floyd protests in the United States.
