Turkey’s pro-government media on Sunday called a Kurdish new year Newroz reception organised in Paris scandalous, and accused French politicians of giving medals of honour to terrorists.
The event, organised by the French Democratic Kurdish Council (CDK-F), was attended by several high-profile French politicians, including the Vice-Chair of the Senate Pierre Laurent, member of La Republiqe en Marche! (LREM) Sylvain Maillard and Leader of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
Rûksan Mihemed, of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and Nûrî Mehmûd, of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Syria’s Rojava received medals of honour during the reception.
The event was arranged by a Kurdish organisation, but Turkey’s pro-government outlet the Sabah presented it as an official reception of the French Senate.
“A huge scandal from France… They gave awards to members of the terrorist organisation. The French Senate gave ‘Medals of Honour’ to terrorists following a reception organised for Newroz,” the newspaper wrote.
Turkey sees Kurdish armed groups in Syria as being affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and labels them as terrorists.
The Kurdish YPJ and YPG form the backbone of the international coalition fighting against the Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Syria.