Europe

The Latest: Turkey asks US to drop support for Syrian Kurds

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A Turkish tank stationed near the Syrian border, in Karkamis, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Turkey's state-run news agency says three rockets fired from Syria have hit Turkish border town of Kilis, injuring five children, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will press ahead with its military operations in Syria until the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants no longer pose a security threat. Erdogan said Turkey was determined to take all steps necessary both inside Turkey and abroad to protect Turkish citizens.(Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

Turkish tanks and artillery are stationed near the Syrian border, in Karkamis, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Turkey's state-run news agency says three rockets fired from Syria have hit Turkish border town of Kilis, injuring five children, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will press ahead with its military operations in Syria until the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants no longer pose a security threat. Erdogan said Turkey was determined to take all steps necessary both inside Turkey and abroad to protect Turkish citizens.(Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

A Turkish tank is stationed near the Syrian border, in Karkamis, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. Turkey's state-run news agency says three rockets fired from Syria have hit Turkish border town of Kilis, injuring five children, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will press ahead with its military operations in Syria until the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants no longer pose a security threat. Erdogan said Turkey was determined to take all steps necessary both inside Turkey and abroad to protect Turkish citizens.(Ismail Coskun/IHA via AP) (The Associated Press)

The Latest on developments in the Syrian conflict, following Ankara's incursion into the war-torn state last week (all times local):

2:20 p.m.

Turkey's presidential spokesman has called on the U.S. to "revise" its policy of supporting Kurdish forces battling Turkish troops in Syria after Ankara's incursion last week into the war-torn state.

The comments by Ibrahim Kalin published on Tuesday by Sabah the pro-government Daily Sabah came a day after the U.S. urged Turkish troops and Kurdish forces in northern Syria to halt their fighting, saying it hinders efforts to defeat the Islamic State group.

Kalin says that the "Americans should revise their policy of supporting (the Kurdish-led force) at all costs."

The battle in northern Syria now pits U.S. ally Turkey against the Kurdish-led force — a U.S.-backed proxy that is the most effective ground force battling IS militants in Syria's 5-year-old civil war.

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11:30 a.m.

French President Francois Hollande has criticized Turkey's "contradictory" military intervention in Syria and warned Russia not to become a "protagonist" in the war.

Hollande, in a diplomatic speech Tuesday, said "multiple, contradictory interventions carry the risk of a general inflammation" of the fighting that has devastated the country.

He said he could understand Turkey's concern about protecting its borders and fighting the Islamic State group, but criticized actions against Kurdish rebels allied with the U.S.-led coalition against the extremists. France is part of that coalition.

Hollande called for cooperation with Russia and said he would invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to France in October, saying Russia should be "a player in negotiations, not a protagonist in the action."

Hollande said "the absolute urgency is a halt to fighting and a return to negotiations."