US creating ‘pool of blood’ in the region: Turkish president

“Hey America! We know these [organizations] very well. But as you have never recognized them (as terror groups) the region has turned into a pool of blood,” Erdogan said on Wednesday, in one of his regular speeches to provincial officials at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.

“Hey America! How many times have we had to tell you? Are you together with us or are you with the PYD and YPG terror groups?

What kind of partnership is this? Is there a difference between the PKK [the Kurdistan Workers' Party] and the PYD? Is there a difference with the YPG?” the Turkish president went on to say.

A day earlier, Ankara summoned the US envoy to Turkey, John Bass, to protest against the remarks by US State Department spokesman John Kirby, who has said that Washington does not see the PYD as a terrorist organization.

Ankara, however, considers the group as an ally of the PKK, which it has been battling for months, but to the US, the PYD is seen as part of the fight against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group that is wreaking havoc in the region.

Kurdish groups like the PYD and YPG have been very successful in confronting Daesh. They also insist that their participation in peace talks on Syria could greatly contribute to the success of any political solution to the crisis in the Arab country.

According to reports, Ankara, along with some other US allies, namely Qatar and Saudi Arabia, has provided support for militants operating inside Syria, particularly Daesh.