Turkey says joint fight needed against Kurdish militants, Islamic State in the region

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ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday after talks in Baghdad that a joint battle using “all our resources” must be carried out to eliminate both Islamic State and Kurdish militants in the region.

Fidan’s visit took place amid repeated calls from Turkey for the Kurdish YPG militia in northeast Syria to disband following the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month, with Ankara warning it could mount a new cross-border operation against the group unless its concerns are addressed.

The YPG spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey considers them terrorists that are an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), against which Ankara carries out regular cross-border military operations in northern Iraq’s mountainous regions.

Ankara and the West deem the PKK a terrorist organisation.

Before the fall of Assad, the SDF was the United States’ main local partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

Speaking alongside his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, Fidan said he had reiterated Turkey’s expectation for Iraq to formally label the PKK a terrorist organisation, after Baghdad recognised it as a “banned organisation” last year.

“I want to emphasise this fact in the strongest terms: the PKK is targeting Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. For the future of our region and the prosperity of our people, we must mount a joint fight against terror,” he said.

“We must destroy Daesh and the PKK with all our resources,” Fidan added, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, adding he had discussed possible cooperation mechanisms on intelligence and operational matters, as well as the involvement of regional countries, against Islamic State during his visit.

Ties between the neighbours have been rocky in recent years due to Ankara’s cross-border operations. However, relations have improved with Iraq calling the PKK a banned organisation and the start of high-level security talks.

On Sunday, Turkey’s defence ministry said Turkish forces had killed 13 PKK militants in northern Iraq.

Since Assad’s toppling by an administration friendly towards Ankara, Syria’s Kurdish factions have been on the back foot, and negotiators from the Syrian leadership, United States, Turkey, and the SDF have been zeroing in on a potential deal on the group’s fate.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Thursday that Turkey attacking Kurdish forces in Syria’s north would be dangerous and create more refugees.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Frances Kerry)