Ankara warns France against supporting US-backed Kurdish militia

Turkey has warned France against protecting a US-backed Kurdish militia in Syria, AFP reports. “If France is staying to contribute to Syria’s future, great, but if they are doing this to protect the [militia], this will bring no benefit to anyone,” Hurriyet daily quoted Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying. Washington’s decision to pull out all 2,000 ground forces from Syria has stunned most allies, including France, but was greeted with approval by Turkey. It views the YPG militia as a sister “terrorist” organization of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984. Ankara says its military power is enough to defeat Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) after US troops withdraw from Syria.