From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Turkey ‘not satisfied’ with US assurance over Syria force
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey describes as far from satisfactory US assurances playing down plans to create a border force in northern Syria made up of Kurdish militia forces deemed as “terrorists” by Ankara.
Washington says it is training a 30,000-strong border force on Syria’s northern frontier with Turkey, comprising the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, whom Ankara accuses of being a terror group.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted furiously to the announcement of the plan, denouncing the force as an “army of terror.”
But the Pentagon said late Wednesday it does not plan to create an “army” and the force is aimed at fighters from the Islamic State (IS) group and maintaining stability in areas recaptured from the jihadists.
— AFP
The Times of Israel Community.