Turkey says it killed 23 Kurdish militants in Syria

ISTANBUL: 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 US 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.

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Under the Biden administration the United States has had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.

Meanwhile, 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.

The Turkish Defence Ministry said the 23 militants killed by Turkey’s armed forces in northern Syria belonged to the YPG militia and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

Turkey regards the PKK and YPG as identical, while the United States views them as separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main ally in Syria in the campaign against Islamic State.

“We hope that Mr. Trump will make a decision that will put an end to this ongoing mistake in the region,” Fidan told a press conference in Doha with his Qatari counterpart.

He said the YPG was incapable of fighting Islamic State and only played a role in keeping the group’s prisoners in jail, adding that Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Jordan had held preliminary talks on fighting Islamic State.

Turkey has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, and 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 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 administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, the United States had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.