The fighting between Turkey’s military and the Kurdish forces has raised concern in the United States that it could detract them from the battle against the Islamic State group and frustrate anti-IS efforts by the USA -led coalition.
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Turkey’s state-run news agency says one Turkish soldier was killed and six wounded in clashes with Kurdish militants in the volatile southeast.
The Pentagon earlier said the Turkish forces had in fact moved to the west, while Kurdish forces had moved east of the Euphrates River, in compliance with Turkish and US authorities.
Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, reinforced those remarks, telling reporters in Ankara that Turkey will not negotiate with the Syrian Kurdish group, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party or the PYD.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed the offensive would continue until the Islamic State group and the Kurdish Syrian fighters no longer posed a threat to Turkey.
The Kurdish YPG is part of a broader, USA -backed coalition in Syria called the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies began the August 24 offensive by seizing Jarablus, a Syrian frontier town, from Islamic State, before turning their sights on what the army said were YPG positions.
The United States has voiced concerns about Turkish strikes on Kurdish-aligned groups that Washington has backed in its battle against IS. US officials have since called on both sides to stand down, fearing that the conflict could undermine efforts to battle IS.
Turkey has demanded that Kurdish forces withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River, which would include a pullout from Manbij, where the Kurds took heavy casualties in months of fighting with IS over the summer. Germany said it did not want to see a lasting Turkish presence in an already tangled conflict.
Military sources told news agencies that they had taken defensive measures after some protesters threw rocks at construction workers, and denied having killed anyone.
“No one can expect us to permit a terror corridor to be created”.
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The Turkish Foreign Ministry says the two discussed current developments in Syria, the delivery of humanitarian aid and efforts to restart peace talks.
