Keep Kurds out of Syria ceasefire: Erdogan

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Syrian Kurdish forces must be excluded from a ceasefire agreement between the warring sides in Syria.

Comparing the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), with Takfiri terror groups in Syria, Erdogan said if Daesh and the al-Nusra Front are kept outside the truce, “then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are.”

The Turkish president made the comments on Wednesday while speaking to local officials in the capital, Ankara, in a speech broadcast live.

Ankara regards the YPG and PYD as allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s.

The YPG, which is nearly in control of Syria’s entire northern border with Turkey, has been fighting against Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The Turkish government is angered by the rapid advance of Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are taking advantage of Russian air cover in the region to capture territory near the Turkish border.

SS