Evidence points to nexus between YPG/PKK

RAS AL-AYN, Syria Evidence collected during Turkey's anti-terror operation refutes claims by Western countries that YPG is not linked to the PKK terror organization. Anadolu Agency footage reveals there are many posters of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of PKK, displayed at terrorist training centers in Ras al-Ayn, Syria. The centers operate under the garb of schools, offices and hostels. Footage also shows books authored by Ocalan kept in a library. Also, financial documents, photos of slain terrorists and YPG/PKK rags can be seen. It was learned that the centers trained female terrorists. These images provide sufficient proof that the YPG and PKK are one and the same. Photographs available with Anadolu Agency from Oct. 20 show the terrorists hanged a banner with a picture of Ocalan at the site of a hospital they destroyed in northern Syria. On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity. Ankara agreed with Washington on Oct. 17 to pause its operation to allow YPG/PKK terrorists to withdraw from the planned safe zone. On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi just hours before the pause was set to expire. Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Turkey’s border with northern Syria within 150 hours and security forces from Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols there. In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK. * Writing by Davut Demircan