Turkish military struck Syrian Kurdish militia 'twice': PM
Date
10/27/2015 6:05:53 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
In this Sunday Feb. 22 2015 file photo Syrian Kurdish militia members of YPG make a V-sign next to poster of Abdullah Ocalan. AFP
Ankara:Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the military has struck Kurdish fighters across the border in northern Syria "twice".
In an interview with A Haber television late on Monday Davutoglu said Turkey had warned members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) not to cross to the west of the Euphrates river and if they did Turkey would attack.
"We struck twice" he said without giving any further details.
Turkey regards the PYD as the Syrian offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a bloody insurgency in the Kurdish dominated southeast since 1984.
Davutoglu's comments came after Syrian Kurdish fighters accused the Turkish military of attacking their positions near Tal Abyad where the Kurdish militia force expelled the Islamic State group after fierce clashes in June.
Kurdish fighters control large parts of northern Syria on the Turkish border where they have for months engaged in bitter fighting with IS jihadists.
The Kurds in Syria last week said they had incorporated Tal Abyad into their "autonomous administration" in the north of the country.
Alarmed by the growing strength of Syrian Kurds Turkey fears they could in the future create an independent state to threaten Ankara.
With Kurds making up 20 percent of Turkey's population its ultimate nightmare would be Turkish Kurds cooperating with their Syrian brethren in search of autonomy on both sides.
Ankara has warned Syrian Kurds to stay away from any attempts to create a "de facto situation" in Syria.
AFP