If Turkey is bombed, we will respond exponentially, insists Erdogan

Turkey’s president has said that if his country gets bombed, his government will respond exponentially. Speaking to local officials on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan added that Russia is the largest supporter of terrorist organisations in Syria, despite its claim to be fighting Daesh. In fact, claimed Erdogan, Russia has hardly fired a single shot against Daesh, whereas it is committing war crimes in Turkey’s southern neighbour.

The president condemned the smuggling of US arms to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey, as well as the arming of those who are fighting opposition forces in Syria. “Blindness is what makes America not see who the real terrorists in Syria are,” he suggested, noting that Washington declares one thing in public and then says something else behind closed doors.

“We defend ourselves,” he stressed, “and we will continue to protect our borders and our security. Turkey is not a country that can give up or withdraw.”

Erdogan called once more upon Washington to declare whether it stands alongside Turkey or with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara has listed as a terrorist organisation.