Turkey calls on German and French envoys to protest against Kurdish militant events

Foreign Ministry tells ambassadors Ankara is unhappy with PKK activities permitted in their countries

Police officers hold back protesters in Berlin, Germany, during a pro-Kurdish demonstration against Turkish military operations in northern and eastern Syria and northern Iraq. Reuters

Turkey summoned the German and French ambassadors to Ankara to protest against events organised by Kurdish militants in their countries.

The envoys were told of Turkey's discomfort with the events organised by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU, state-run Anadolu news agency cited Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying on Tuesday.

On a possible operation in northern Syria, Mr Cavusoglu vowed to “eliminate terrorist threat at home and abroad — in Syria and wherever it is”.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed plans for a cross-border incursion against Kurdish militants in Syria to create a 30-kilometre buffer.

Ankara staged a military operation against the Kurdish group YPG, or People’s Protection Units, in October 2019.

Russia, the Syrian government, and the US have troops in the border region.

Turkish officials consider the YPG to be a terrorist group linked to the outlawed PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Turkey since 1984, leading to tens of thousands of deaths.

The YPG is central to US-led forces in the fight against ISIS in Syria.

On Russia-Ukraine war, there was a possibility of bringing the parties together, perhaps at leadership level, as part of Turkey's negotiation efforts, Mr Cavusoglu said.