Turkey has urged the US to stop backing the Kurdish militia group. A spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said YPG fighters were using US-supplied weapons against Turkish troops to oust them from Afrin region.
On the other hand US foreign minister Rex Tillerson said that his country is ready to work with Turkey for security threats. He said the US accepts Turkey’s right to defence against terrorists and has also given some suggestions to strengthen the situation.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group and says YPG is an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. However, The YPG denies any direct organisational links with the PKK.
The Kurd militia controls much of north-eastern Syria, has been a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State (IS) fighters there.
Ankara’s stand is that the fight against IS is over and hence demands US alliance with the YPG.
Turkish President Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: “We cannot tolerate the PKK establishing along our border in Syria.”