Turkey slams US decision to create Kurdish border force in Syria

(rt.com), 15 Jan, 2018 - Ankara has slammed the plan to create a 30,000-strong force from the Kurdish-dominated SDF militias on its border with Syria, accusing its NATO ally of presenting its “unilateral” move as a joint decision of the US-led coalition.   

The Turkish government perceives the so-called Syrian Border Force, that may be stationed along the Kurdish-controlled parts of the Syrian border with Iraq and Turkey, as well as in the Euphrates River Valley, as a threat to its national security, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in the statement on Sunday.   The US-led coalition’s plan to set up such a force on the basis of the Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) veterans, who are set to make up half of the recruits, was unveiled by US Army spokesman for the US-led coalition, on Saturday.  However, Turkey, which is also a part of the coalition to defeat Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), was not consulted prior to the announcement, according to the ministry.