Ankara denies mediated talks with Syria

“It is not possible for us to cooperate with a regime which still attacks civilians, hospitals, schools and houses and uses chemical weapons and barrel bombs. Of course, we will continue our fight against DAEŞ [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL] and the YPG [People’s Defense Units, the military wing of the PYD],” Çavuşoğlu told reporters at a joint press conference with his Maltese counterpart George Vella in the capital Ankara.

The question came after a report in the francophone Algiers daily El Watan appeared in the Turkish media on June 22. 

The report suggested that the country was running a secret mediation mission between Ankara and Damascus for an exchange over the Kurdish question and Syrian Kurds’ desire to form an independent state, quoting a diplomatic source.