US, EU Influence Suppressing Turkey Amid Conflict With Kurds – Kurdish Official

The influence of the European Union and the United States is among the factors successfully restraining Turkey in its armed campaign against the Kurds, Xosawi Bebekir, a representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On November 9, the European Commission urged the Turkish government to be committed to political settlement of the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and avoid disproportionate use of force in the southeast of the country.

When asked whether he believes Turkey would listen to these recommendations, Bebkir said "I think yes."

"So far, the situation is not as critical as was expected. Evidently, the European Commission has influenced [the Turkish government] and the public opinion. The US also tries to persuade Turkey not to intervene [in Syria] deploying troops there. These factors have been suppressing Turkey so far," Bebekir said.

He added that Kurds are not interested in regional countries intervening in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict as foreign intervention would only worsen and deepen it.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist group in Turkey. The European Union also lists the organization as terrorist, with the European Parliament voted against removing the PKK from the list in 2015.

Tensions between Ankara and the PKK escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between the sides collapsed over a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by the PKK members.