Turkey’s Erdogan rules out talks with Syrian Kurdish forces

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan firmly rules out any negotiations with Kurdish militants in Syria, saying their only option was to lay down arms and retreat.

He dismisses calls from foreign powers, including the United States, who have demanded a ceasefire in Turkey’s week-old operation in northern Syria.

“There are some leaders who are trying to mediate… There has never been any such thing in the history of the Turkish republic as the state sitting at the same table with a terror organization,” Erdogan says in a speech to parliament.

“Our proposal is that right now, tonight, all the terrorists lay down their arms, their equipment and everything, destroy all their traps and get out of the safe zone that we have designated,” he says, adding that this was “the quickest way of solving the problem in Syria.”

— AFP