World Bulletin/News Desk
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says the peshmerga have not yet entered Kobani through Turkish territory to fight against ISIL.
"The peshmerga have not yet entered Kobani," Cavusoglu said during a live interview Tuesday. "The talks about the issue are still ongoing."
The foreign minister said that: "If there is a specific group to be supported, it should be the Free Syrian Army. What we told the PYD is that they ought to give up on their aspirations about Syria and act in coordination with the Free Syrian Army."
Turkey considers the Democratic Union Party, also known as the PYD, to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK -- a terrorist group that has waged three-decade insurgency in Turkey. The U.S. and the EU have listed the PKK as a terrorist organization.
The foreign minister also said that no decision has yet been taken about moving the peshmerga group to Kobani over the Turkish border.
"We are still talking about if the peshmerga move to Kobani will be by land or by air," he said.
Cavusoglu was asked about the allegations of Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Democratic Union Party, saying Turkey backed out on its promise to open corridors for Kurdish armed groups for fighting ISIL.
"There are no promises from Turkey to any group," he answered. "Everybody should be honest and transparent about the meetings. No promises made by Turkey."
Asked about Turkey's failure to be elected as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Cavusoglu said there were 143 countries before the election who gave their written vote of confidence to Turkey, but many of them "did not fulfill their commitment."
"We will not change our way of thinking to get votes. Principles are important and we stick to our policies," he said.
The U.N. General Assembly elected Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela as non-permanent members of the Security Council.
Spain beat out Turkey on the third ballot, receiving 132 votes, as Turkey managed 60 votes.
The new non-permanent members will serve two-year terms beginning January 1, 2015.
Güncelleme Tarihi: 21 Ekim 2014, 23:00