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Erdogan lashes out at US over support for Syrian Kurdish fighters

The president renewed his criticism of Turkey’s NATO partner after a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia said it would deploy troops to Afrin province to battle the Turkish army.
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) military police members demonstrate with their flags in the Kurdish town of Al-Muabbadah in the northeastern part of Hassakah province on February 24, 2018, denouncing the Turkish military operation against YPG forces in the northwestern Kurdish enclave of Afrin. / AFP PHOTO / Delil souleiman        (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of failing to deliver on promises to rein in Kurdish militants in Syria, breaking a brief rhetorical truce that followed a visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last month to ease strained ties between the NATO allies.

Erdogan’s anger may have been reignited by reports this week that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is sending 1,700 fighters to the province of Afrin to fight the Turkish military, which invaded the border region in January to thwart Kurdish territorial gains along its border.

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