Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened more attacks on US-backed Kurdish militia in Syria and Iraq yesterday.
Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Erdogan insisted that US support for such groups “must come to an end” and said he would bring the matter up at a meeting with President Donald Trump next month.
He was speaking the day after his government deployed troops to the region of southern Turkey that borders Syria.
On Friday, US troops embedded with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia — without the consent of Damascus — began patrolling on the other side of the frontier in a clear warning to Ankara not to repeat last week’s air raids on US allies in Syria.
The Turkish air force also bombed a radio station and media centre of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — which Turkey and its NATO allies have designated a terrorist organisation — in Sinjar, across the border in Iraq.
The YPG’s parent organisation, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP party both accused Turkey of aiding ISIS extremists with the attacks.