Turkey warns U.S. over YPG-led army plan in Syria

ANKARA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has strongly slammed the United States decision to establish a new border army with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in order to secure Turkish and Iraqi borders with Syria.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday the U.S. support for YPG in Syria on the ground to fight Islamic State (IS) is not compatible with the strategic partnership.

"The U.S. is playing with fire with its new army plan in Syria," Bozdag wrote on his Twitter account.

The U.S.-led coalition against IS had issued a written statement to some media outlets earlier on Sunday, and confirmed it will set up a 30,000-strong new border security force with the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The coalition named the new army the Syrian Border Security Force. About 15,000 of the fighters will be SDF veterans as the fight against IS came to a close. Another 15,000 will be recruited and trained in the near future.

Currently, 230 individuals are being trained in the inaugural class, according to the coalition statement.

Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday that Turkey reserves its right to intervene against terror threat "in any way, time and place."

Turkey will continue to take necessary measures to ensure its security in line with national interests, Kalin said.

Turkey sees YPG as the Syrian affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). However, the U.S. has supported the YPG as its ally on the ground in combating IS in Syria. Enditem