Turkey’s Erdogan: No Intent to Stop Shelling Against Syrian Kurds

The Turkish President said that the US must decide whether it wants to back Turkey or the Kurdish insurgents.

Smoke rises after airstrikes by military jets in Syria. (Photo: AP)

Turkey does not intend to stop shelling the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in response to cross-border fire, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, adding that the United States should decide whether it wants to back Turkey or the Kurdish insurgents.

The rapid of advance of US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are taking advantage of Russian air strikes in the region to seize territory near the Turkish border, has infuriated Ankara, which sees the insurgents as a terrorist organisation. Turkey has been shelling YPG positions for days.

Erdogan also said that ignoring the link between Syrian Kurds and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was a “hostile act”.