Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that joint US-Kurdish patrols just over the Turkish border with Syria were unacceptable and he expected US President Donald Trump to stop them.
Erdogan, set to meet Trump in Paris this weekend, told reporters he would discuss the patrols that he said were being carried out inside Syria by the United States and allied "Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)," Reuters reported.
"I believe when we speak with Trump, they will probably stop this process," he said.
US has backed and armed the "SDF," describing them as allies in the fight against ISIS.
Joint patrols started last week in northern Syria with the aim of averting clashes between Turkey and Washington's Kurdish allies. However, according to Reuters, Ankara pressed on with a new offensive nearby on the Kurdish forces.
Erdogan last week vowed to crush Syrian Kurdish fighters east of the Euphrates, where some 2,000 US forces stand alongside the "SDF."
