Turkey accuses PUK of providing French helicopters to "terrorists"
Shafaq News / In a statement on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of receiving French helicopters and allocating them "to terrorists."
Cavusoglu pointed out in an interview with Turkish media that "the United States controls Iraqi airspace, and therefore the United States is aware of these flights."
He added that "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted this in statements during his meeting with President Joe Biden," noting that the United States and some Western countries support the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the People's Protection Units through all means.
He added that "the helicopter belongs to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or the local administration in al-Sulaymaniyah, not the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the People's Protection Units, but it was provided by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan."
Cavusoglu expressed the belief that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan enabled the Kurdistan Workers' Party to fully control al-Sulaymaniyah, adding that the Kurdistan Workers' Party entered strategic points and airports.
Cavusoglu emphasized that "our operations will continue, and we call on Iraq to participate and carry out joint operations."
In a statement published on March 17, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) acknowledged the fall of two helicopters inside the Kurdistan region and the killing of nine of its members, including a high-ranking military commander.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council confirmed in a statement that "one helicopter was downed and seven people were killed," and "these helicopters flew between Rojava and al-Sulaymaniyah without informing the official authorities in the region."
The Kurdistan Region Security Council added, "According to the available information, these helicopters landed in some locations in al-Sulaymaniyah and also flew to Rojava. The information also shows that a party in al-Sulaymaniyah opened the way for secret and unofficial relations between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party and provided them with assistance in various ways."
Earlier, Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, said in a speech during his meeting with consuls and representatives of countries in the region that "these helicopters were originally purchased by a group within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, but how and why they ended up in the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces is what we do not know. And why they were present in that place and crashed there, this needs more investigations."
