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    Syria war: France offers to mediate between Turkey and Kurds

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    France has offered to mediate in the conflict in northern Syria, where Turkey launched a offensive against Kurdish fighters in January.

    Ankara is battling to drive out the Kurdish YPG militia, which it sees as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party ().

    The French offer was swiftly dismissed by a Turkish presidential spokesman.

    Ibrahim Kalin said countries should instead take a “clear stance against all types of terrorism”.

    Separately on Friday, Turkey said five soldiers were killed and seven wounded in an attack by the PKK in the south-eastern province of Siirt.

    The attack, the deadliest by the PKK for months, is likely to be in revenge for Turkey's offensive in northern Syria, Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen reports.

    What's behind the French offer?

    President Emmanuel Macron had met members of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (), including the YPG and expressed hopes for dialogue between Turkey and the militia.

    His office said he had “paid tribute to the sacrifices and the determining role” of the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.

    The SDF is a key US ally in the fight against IS and the Kurdish YPG forms a core part of it.

    France and the US have given the militia weapons and training to support its battle against IS. The US also backs the YPG's assertion that it has no direct organisational links to the PKK, which Turkey calls a terror group.

    Continue Reading This Article At BBC News

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