Turkey rejects ceasefire with Syrian Kurdish militia

Turkey could not be put on an equal footing with a 'terrorist organisation', EU affairs minister Omer Celik said, referring to the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

ISTANBUL // Turkey on Wednesday said it did not accept US claims that it had agreed a truce with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.

“We do not accept in any circumstances ... a ‘compromise or a ceasefire reached between Turkey and Kurdish elements’,” EU affairs minister Omer Celik told state-run Anadolu news agency.

“The Turkish republic is a sovereign, legitimate state.”

Turkey could not be put on an equal footing with a “terrorist organisation”, Mr Celik said, referring to the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

A US defence official said on Tuesday that the Turkish and Kurdish-led forces had reached a “loose agreement” to stop fighting each other.

Last week, Turkey launched a two-pronged offensive against ISIL extremists and the YPG in northern Syria.

After a weekend of Turkish clashes with YPG-allied forces, Washington expressed alarm and urged both sides to stop fighting each other and concentrate on combatting ISIL.

Turkey sees the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has waged a bloody war against the Turkish state since 1984.

* Agence France-Presse