Turkey’s minister of European Union affairs dismisses claims that a cease-fire has been reached with Kurdish rebels in northern Syria.
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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 US -led coalition.
Ankara has denied statements from Kurdish fighters in Syria that a temporary truce had been agreed, saying it would not make any pact with the Kurdish YPG militia, a powerful force in the SDF coalition, as it considers it a terrorist body.
“The Turkish Republic is a sovereign state, a legitimate state”.
Turkey says its offensive inside Syria, which began with the capture of Jarabulus, is aimed at ridding the border area not just of IS jihadists but also a Kurdish militia that Ankara regards as a terror group.
The government has not said it wants to establish a “buffer zone” but its forces are likely to have to stay in the region for some time to support the Syrian rebels it is backing who number just 1,500.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter later said he had appealed to both sides not to fight.
Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed Monday the army aimed to prevent the creation of a Kurdish-controlled corridor running almost the entire length of the border, which would bolster Kurdish PKK rebels in southeast Turkey.
Echoing US concerns about the Turkish offensive in Syria, French President Francois Hollande said he understood Turkey’s need to defend itself from Islamic State but that targeting Kurdish forces which were battling jihadists could further inflame the five-year-old Syrian conflict.
In recent days, Turkish forces have attacked Syrian Kurds aligned with the USA, saying they had failed to move east of the Euphrates Rivers.
The Pentagon says Kurdish forces have already moved east of the Euphrates, in compliance with Turkish and US demands.
“They will remain our target unless they retreat east of the Euphrates”, he said, repeating Turkey’s demand that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) retreat to the northeast.
“We would like to see the pressure of the USA on the PYD to go to the east of the Euphrates”.
Besides withdrawing from the Jarablus area, the Kurdish fighters have also pulled out from the strategic town of Manbij and out of other embattled areas west of the Euphrates, said Mr.
“We agreed on a ceasefire with the Turkish state via the United States and the global coalition” that is fighting IS, said council spokesman Ali Hajo. “The United States gave reassurances on the issue”.
Islamist militants bombed Istanbul worldwide airport in June, killing 45 people and hammering Turkey’s already struggling tourist industry.
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The US has been warning the sides to focus on fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group elements there. “So it would be very useful if we would apply this operation with the USA forces together”.
