The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is probably a "bigger" terrorist threat than the Islamic State organization, Donald Trump said on Wednesday (October 16th).
"The PKK, which is part of the Kurds, as you know, is probably worse in terms of terrorism and a greater terrorist threat in many ways than the IS," the US president said at a press conference to the White House.
"Green light" to Turkey
Turkey last week launched an offensive in northern Syria against a Kurdish militia, which it considers the Syrian branch of the PKK, after the withdrawal of US military from this area.
Calling loudly for his choice to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, Donald Trump said he had given nothing to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan's agreement for a military offensive, as he is accused of many critics within his own camp.
"I did not give him a green light, and when you say that, it's very misleading," he said. "It was the opposite of a green light, first we had almost no soldiers there, they were mostly gone."
"Let them find a solution"
"I will not get involved in a war between Turkey and Syria," he said, a few hours after the departure of his vice president, Mike Pence, for Ankara.
"We have a situation in which Turkey takes territories to Syria, Syria is not happy, let them find a solution," he added.
Mike Pence, who is scheduled to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said earlier this week that he will go to Ankara to "end the invasion" in Syria and declare a "ceasefire". immediate".
With AFP