Turkey does ‘not accept’ truce with Syrian Kurd militia

Turkey on Wednesday said it did "not accept" the US claims that it had agreed a truce with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria. "We do not accept in any circumstances ... a 'compromise or a ceasefire reached between Turkey and Kurdish elements,'" EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik told state-run Anadolu news agency.

"The Turkish republic is a sovereign, legitimate state," Celik added. Celik said Turkey could not be put on an equal footing with a "terrorist organisation", referring to the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

A US defence official had said in Washington on Tuesday that the Turkish and Kurdish-led forces had reached a "loose agreement" to stop fighting each other.

Last week, Turkey had launched a two-pronged offensive against Islamic State jihadists and the YPG in northern Syria. After a weekend of Turkish clashes with YPG-allied forces, Washington expressed alarm and urged both sides to stop fighting each other and concentrate on combatting IS.

Turkey sees the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a bloody war against the Turkish state since 1984.