The defiant rhetoric is likely to set back US expectations of a halt in the fighting between Washington’s two allies in the region, both of whom are also fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
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Turkey, which considers the PYD to be the Syrian affiliate of the communist terrorist group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has sought to increase military cooperation with the KRG against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Ankara’s offensive has alarmed the West, with Washington saying that action aimed at the YPG, part of a USA -backed coalition also fighting against Islamic State, risks undermining the broader goal of ridding Syria of the jihadist group.
The country began its cross-border offensive last month with its tanks, artillery and warplanes backing the Free Syrian Army as they captured the town of Jarablus from IS militants.
On Tuesday, the Kurdish-backed Jarablus Military Council said in a statement that it had agreed to a cease-fire with the Turkish military in a disputed area in northern Syria after lengthy consultations with the coalition.
The United States “was not involved in these activities, they were not coordinated with U.S. forces, and we do not support them”, he said.
In comments made to the state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday, EU Minister Omer Celik says, “Turkey is a sovereign state, it is a legitimate state”. Turkey says the group is an arm of Turkey’s outlawed PKK.
Germany also said it did not want to see a lasting Turkish presence in an already tangled conflict.
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Turkey considers the YPG a “terrorist” group and said Monday it would continue to target the group if it failed to retreat east of the Euphrates River.
