Turkey will ‘never allow’ Kurdish state in Syria, says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will never allow the establishment of a 

Kurdish state in Syria after major gains by Kurdish fighters.

In a strong-worded warning late yesterday, Erdogan accused the Kurds of ethnically cleaning other communities from land they have taken after pushing back Islamic State forces from the Turkish border. “I say to the international community that whatever price must be paid, we will never allow the establishment of a new state on our southern frontier in the north of Syria,” Erdogan was quoted by Turkish media as telling guests at a dinner to break the Ramadan fast.

He accused Kurdish forces of “changing the demographic structure” of several areas close to the Turkish border, which also have Arab and Turkmen populations.

Turkey has fought a 31-year insurgency in the south east of the country by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara claims is closely linked to the main Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Erdogan’s comments came a day after IS militants mounted a bloody surprise attack on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobane, killing at least 164.