Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan downplayed the Syrian government’s deployment in Manbij, saying that Damascus was running “a psychological operation” in the city. Turkey has long fought an insurgency by Kurds in its country led by the Kurdistan Workers Party, known by the initials PKK, and regards the YPG in Syria to be a branch of that group, despite its denials. The Kurds have sought an independent country in a region that overlaps Turkey, Syria and Iraq, although the YPG has stressed its allegiance to Syria.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times