The US is willing to work with Turkey to address its legitimate security concerns in northern Syria, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said. He was speaking after Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria to fight the Kurdish YPG militia at the weekend.
Turkey sees the group as terrorists, but they have been crucial in a US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) terror group. Ankara said the US needs to stop backing the YPG if they want cooperation.
Thousands of civilians in the northern Syrian region of Afrin are reportedly trying to flee as Turkey continues its ground offensive.The UN Security Council has been meeting to discuss the operation, as well as the wider humanitarian situation in Syria.
Turkey says its troops have seized territory from the Kurdish militia. It believes the fighters are an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades. The YPG denies any direct links to the group.
