Turkey says Kurdish militia should not be in Syrian Raqqa operation

Reuters

Published Oct 26, 2016 07:28AM ET

Turkey says Kurdish militia should not be in Syrian Raqqa operation

ANKARA (Reuters) - A planned operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State should be carried out by local forces and the Kurdish YPG militia should not be included, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

The United States regards the YPG as an ally in its fight against Islamic State, but Turkey regards it as a terrorist organization because of its links with Kurdish militants fighting a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.