ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Turkey has once again raised its objection with Washington to the presence of Syrian Kurdish forces west of the Euphrates River. U.S. General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently met with Turkey's Chief of General Staff General Hulusi Akar and the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The Turks reminded Dunford of their opposition to members of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) crossing westward of the Euphrates River in their fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). The opening of a "Kurdish corridor" is Turkey's "red-line" in Syria. The 68-mile Azaz-Jarablus corridor sits on Syria's border with Turkey and between two Kurdish cantons. Turkey fears a YPG presence along its entire border with Syria if such a corridor is created and is therefore adamantly opposed to it. "We [the Turks] are aware of their desires and attempts to establish a Kurdish corridor along the Turkish border by entering the Azaz-Jarablus line. We have declared so many times that Turkey will never accept this," said a security source quoted by Hurriyet Daily News. The Turks also reportedly stressed to Dunford that, "Turkey is in favour of the protection of the territorial integrity of Syria. We are sensitive on this issue." Ankara has long claimed a YPG presence west of the Euphrates would see that group force out Arabs and Turkmens in that area in an attempt to change the existing demographics, a claim rejected by the YPG. The YPG merged into the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group consisting of Arabs, Assyrians and Turkmen last October which, according to Ankara, is little more than a thin veneer since, in their estimation, 85% of the group is in reality YPG members. Prime Minister Davutoglu had claimed last month, after the SDF first crossed the Euphrates from Tishreen Dam that only Arab members of the group had made the crossing. It seems that since then the Turks are getting more worried about a YPG presence over their red-line.
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