Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday that two Czech citizens who were detained in Turkey while illegally crossing the Turkish border into Iraq are suspected of having links to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers to be the Syrian branch of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Speaking at a press conference with his Czech counterpart, Lubomir Zaoralek, in Ankara on Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu said Turkish authorities have information and documents suggesting the two Czech citizens are linked to the PKK and YPG.
“Intensive investigations into these two Czech citizens are being conducted. We are exchanging information with the Czech Embassy in Ankara. After the investigation is completed, we will share information on whether they have links or not,” he added.
He further said that there are photos the two Czech citizens in YPG uniforms.
Czech Foreign Minister Zaoralek also said that accusations directed at his citizens, who claimed that they were there to provide humanitarian aid, are serious.
“However, according to the information we have received, they were to deliver humanitarian aid in the region. There is information that they were there for a portable hospital. Our knowledge is that they were certainly not here to support terrorist attacks,” he said.
The two Czech citizens, Miroslav Farkas and Marketa Vselichova, were detained while crossing the Iraqi border from the southeastern province of Şırnak on Nov. 17.
