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Turkey's Hostility Toward Syrian Kurds Hampers Fight Against Daesh

© REUTERS / Rodi SaidKurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters walk with their weapons at the eastern entrances to the town of Tal Abyad in the northern Raqqa countryside, Syria, June 14, 2015
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters walk with their weapons at the eastern entrances to the town of Tal Abyad in the northern Raqqa countryside, Syria, June 14, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Ankara’s hostility towards the Syrian Kurds, fighting Daesh (Islamic State) militants in the country, is putting strains on Turkey’s relations with the United States and undermining efforts to boost operations against the group, media reported citing US officials.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to The Wall Street Journal’s Sunday report, Turkey has become one of the greatest impediments in trying to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict, as well as in trying to tackle Daesh in the most effective way possible.

Iraqi Kurdish girls carry a Kurdistan flag during the celebration of Flag Day in the northern city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq - Sputnik International
Kurds: The Key Beneficiary of Daesh's Rise and Fall
The media outlet claims that US-Turkish tensions arose last month when US Vice President Joe Biden travelled to Istanbul to discuss the anti-Daesh campaign with the Turkish authorities.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his advisers, according to the media outlet, demonstrated a map allegedly showing routes Syrian Kurds used to transfer the US weapons intended to fight Daesh to Turkey, to pass on to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group Ankara had banned.

The US officials probed the complaints and found no direct proof that the US-provided arms were transferred to Turkey.

Kurds, one of the largest ethnic groups in Syria, have been fighting against the Daesh terrorist group, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia, for years.

Turkey has repeatedly accused the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) of ties to the PKK. According to the PYD, Ankara blocked its participation in the Syrian peace talks over fears of its links to the militant movement.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Washington to choose between the partnership with Turkey and Kurdish forces.

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