Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (R) speaks during a joint press conference with his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 29, 2016. Cavusoglu said on Monday that the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian group linked to the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), will remain targeted until it retreat to east of Euphrates River. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)
ANKARA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish foreign minister said Monday that the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian group linked to the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), will remain targeted until it retreat to east of Euphrates River.
"The YPG needs to retreat back to the east of Euphrates River, as they and the United States has previously pledged, and will be targeted if they fail to do so," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
At a joint press conference with his Dutch counterpart, Bert Koenders, in Ankara, Cavusoglu accused the YPG of committing ethnic cleansing in Syria and of opposing Turkey's anti-Islamic State (IS) operation in the region.
Cavusoglu reiterated that Turkey's ongoing "Euphrates Shield" operation aims to drive the IS out of the region and to flush "terrorists" out of the cities that were previously under their control.
Also on Monday, witnesses in Karkamis, a town in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, reported hearing two huge explosions acorss the border in the IS-controlled southern area of Jarablus in Syira, Dogan news agency said.
Local media outlets said Turkish armed forces carried out 57 artillery strikes on 16 targets in north Syria in the last 24 hours.
The YPG, a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, has reportedly been a partner in the U.S.-led campaign against the IS in Syria.
Ankara has frequently voiced its concern over YPG activity along its borders and has been adamant in its stance against a de facto Kurdish state in northern Syria.
The Turkish government says the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing YPG have close connections with the PKK.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
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Turkish artillery hits YPG ammo depot in Syria's Jarablus
ANKARA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish warplanes, artillery hit Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) targets in northern Syria on Sunday morning, Turkish media reported.
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