Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the United States of supporting terrorists in Iraq.
Erdogan’s wrath follows the reported execution of 13 Turks recently kidnapped by the extremist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This Turkish-Kurdish terror group is based in the north of Iraq and is an ally of the Kurds who control northern Syria.
During the Syrian Civil War, the US saw in the Syrian Kurds a crucial ally in the fight against the reign of terror that Islamic State jihadists had established in northern and eastern Syria.
In 2017, the then administration of President Trump went on to arm the Kurds in Syria, and they became increasingly important in the fight against Islamic State, much to the chagrin of Erdogan.
The US has announced that it strongly condemns the murder of the 13 Turks if the reports are correct and that the PKK would be responsible for it. Erdogan called the statements regrettable and said they show the US is on the side of the terrorists.
Turkish troops went to Northern Iraq on February 10 to search for compatriots kidnapped by the PKK. They say they found the thirteen in a cave where they had been executed when Turkish soldiers approached. The PKK disputes this lecture and claims never to harm prisoners.