ANKARA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is alert to the situation in Syria's northern bordering area, whose three districts were seized by of the Democratic Union of Kurdistan (PYD), an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkish ministers held a security meeting on Wednesday to discuss possible developments in Turkish-Syrian border area, which aroused concerns of Ankara over the potential expansion of the Kurdish-controlled area in northern Syria and establishment of another front for the PKK in its attacks against Turkey.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then over 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.
The Syrian administration "left the (bordering) region to the PYD to reinforce its troops in the center of the country for clashes with the Free Syrian Army and to intimidate Turkey," Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported, quoting Turkish sources.
The PYD has gotten hold of three Syrian towns, including Kobane and Efrin in Aleppo and Amude in the city of al-Hasakah, all adjacent to the Turkish border.
Saleh Muslim Mohamed, leader of PYD told Turkey's Daily Aksam that "We have enhanced control of Kurdish districts in order to maintain security of Syrian Kurds... It cannot be said that ( Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad has given support to us. In fact, time to time we had clashes with the Syrian forces,"
"But it was a reality that al-Assad was not in full resistance against the PYD," he added.
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