Turkey’s Defence Minister says its armed forces are hoping to push the Syrian Kurdish PYD fighters further east in Jarablus within a week. <br /><br /> Fikri Isik’s statement came a day after the Free Syrian Army, backed by Ankara and with US-led air support, reportedly took the Syrian border town of Jarablus from ISIL.<br /><br /> Both Turkish forces and the PYD’s military branch, the YPG, are fighting ISIL. However Ankara is also aiming to drive back the PYD, which it considers a terrorist organisation. The Syrian branch of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been at war with Turkey for over three decades.<br /><br /> The Syrian organisation gained strength in the region around Jarablus earlier in August, 2016, after helping capture Manbij – which lies further south in Syria – from ISIL control.<br /><br /> The US, which has ties with the PYD, has pledged the group will retreat, or it will sever relations.<br />
