There is no difference between the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Both are terrorists," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.
But some countries feel sympathy for the PKK, which they claim is secular, Erdogan said.
" PKK and ISIL, two terrorist organizations, are now fighting in Ayn-al-Arab, whose old name is Kobani in Syria. We certainly stand against theISIL terrorists, with a principled position, along with the whole world. But the interesting thing is, those who should stand against the PKK in principle actually take its side, as they claim PKK is secular," said Erdogan, in a speech in Turkmenistan.
"The murderer is a murderer. Taking sides between murderers and butchers makes one a party to the crime," Erdogan said.
The PKK-offshoot Democratic Unity Party, or PYD, has been fighting against ISIL since March, andISIL made a great advance as of September into the Syrian Kurdish town, bringing it to the brink of falling.
Turkey has raised its voice against military aid to the PYD by the U.S. in October, and supported the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the Syrian armed opposition in the town.