Turkey calls for end to US support for Syrian Kurds

ISTANBUL: Turkey called on the United States to end its support for a Kurdish militia in northern Syria as the two countries held talks on Monday aimed at preventing a fresh Turkish invasion.

“The US should positively answer our request to end its partnership with the YPG in Syria,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara.

The statement came as defence officials from the United States sat down with their counterparts in Ankara for last-ditch talks aimed at creating a “safe zone” in northern Syria to keep the YPG away from Turkey’s border.

Washington has supported the YPG as the main fighting force against the Daesh in Syria.

But Ankara sees it as an offshoot of the Kurdish PKK, which has fought a bloody insurgency inside Turkey for the past 35 years.

Turkey has so far been unimpressed with the details of the US “safe zone” plan in Syria and has renewed threats to launch a cross-border offensive if the talks fail to reach a “satisfactory” conclusion.

“We can only be patient for so long. That patience will come to an end,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

He repeated a threat he has persistently made for the past 18 months to launch an offensive east of the Euphrates River against the YPG.

Turkish media has regularly shown images in recent weeks of military convoys heading for the border area, carrying equipment and fighting units.

Turkey has twice carried out unilateral offensives into northern Syria against the Daesh and YPG, in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

US President Donald Trump proposed setting up a 30-kilometre “safe zone” along the border ater Erdogan threatened to enter Syria in December.

Turkish officials have said any “safe zone” should be under Ankara’s control and that all YPG elements must be removed from the region.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy on Friday said there was still no agreement on the “safe zone” as Ankara expected the US to bring new proposals.