Turkey said on Sunday it had killed 23 Kurdish militants in northern Syria, the latest in a series of strikes against them which have continued since U.S. President Donald Trump took office last month.
A fighter from the YPG © Mena Today
Turkey said on Sunday it had killed 23 Kurdish militants in northern Syria, the latest in a series of strikes against them which have continued since U.S. President Donald Trump took office last month.
The defence ministry said the militants belonged to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.
Turkey regards the PKK and YPG to be identical, while the United States views them as separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main allies in Syria in the campaign against Islamic State.
Turkey has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, expressing hope that Trump would revise the policy of the previous administration of President Joe Biden.
Turkish forces and their allies in Syria have repeatedly fought with Kurdish militants there since the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in December.
Turkey has said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF - a U.S.-backed umbrella group that includes the Kurdish YPG - must disarm or face military intervention.
Under the Biden administration the United States has had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.
Reporting by Daren Butler
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday he hoped President Donald Trump would end U.S. cooperation with the Syrian Kurdish YPG, as Turkey continued its military campaign against the group, killing 23 of its fighters.
Syria's transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered his congratulations on Friday to Ahmed Al-Shara, following his recent appointment as Syria’s interim president.
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