Ankara--Far from sharing Western euphoria over Kurds' capture of a key border town from Islamic State (IS) jihadists, Turkey is alarmed by the advance of Kurdish forces, fearing that they could create a powerful autonomous region on its doorstep.
Backed by US-led airstrikes, fighters with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia this week seized the key Syrian border town of Tal Abyad from IS jihadists.
There was jubilation over the victory among Kurds, who hailed the end of the notoriously repressive practices in Tal Abyad by IS, which has captured swaths of Iraq and Syria.
But while Turkey insists it is no friend of IS, Ankara's reactions to the Kurdish advance have ranged from the circumspect to the outright hostile.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was troubled by the advance of Kurdish forces, fearing they could in the future create a structure to threaten Turkey.
"This is not a good sign," he said. "Everyone needs to take into account our sensitivities on this issue."
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc accused Kurdish forces of implementing an "ethnic cleansing" campaign against non-Kurdish Arab and Turkmen populations.
He said they were trying to link together the three Kurdish-led cantons of northern Syria -- Jazira, Kobane and Afrin -- into a single autonomous Kurdish region known to Syrian Kurds as Rojava.
But in a thinly veiled attack on Turkey, the YPG lashed out at "unfounded slander" it said was being propagated by sides annoyed by the defeat of IS.
"We repeat openly that as the YPG, we will ensure Syrian unity and not the dissolution of Syria," it said in a statement.
AFP
