Turkey warns US over 'Kurdish corridor' in Syria

The Turkish army has expressed concerns to the United States' top military figure over Syrian Kurdish groups' attempts to create a "Kurdish corridor" in northern Syria and change the demographic structure of the region to the advantage of Kurds. 

The messages were delivered to Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who held talks with Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu on Jan 6. 

Dunford, the highest-ranking military officer of the U.S., visited U.S. troops stationed in Turkey's ?ncirlik Base following talks in Ankara. 

Military-to-military talks focused on the joint fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and on developments in Syria and Iraq, as well as other regional issues, daily Hürriyet learned. 

One of the most important issues the Turkish army raised was the attempts of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in crossing the Euphrates River and therefore entering the Azaz-Jarablus corridor. 

Turkey claims the PYD is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and, ergo, "terrorists" even though the U.S. and other anti-ISIL coalition members see them as a legitimate political party. 

"We 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," a security source said.  

The Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD), a coalition composed of Kurds, Turkmens, Christians and Arabs, succeeded in seizing control of the strategically important Teshrin Dam on the Euphrates River, but Ankara has complained that 85 percent of the coalition consists of PYD members. 

"Turkey...