Turkish FM: We fight ISIS in Syria, not the PYD

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a TV interview that Turkey's main objective in Syria is to fight the Islamic State, or ISIS, and no attacks have been carried out on the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

"We have no operations against the PYD and there will not be any in the future, but this does not mean we are satisfied with the PYD's behavior," Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.

Çavuşoğlu said the government had information that the PYD was disappointed by recent attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Turkish military forces. He said that conflict with the PYD was not part of Ankara's "long-term plans" in Syria. 

"At the moment, there is no plan for ground operations [in Syria], but in the future we will consider anything required to defeat ISIS, including ground operations," he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday called for a no-fly zone over northern Syria in order to protect civilians from both Islamic State and Syrian government forces, in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday.

In late July, Ankara announced its consent for the international coalition to use Turkey's Incirlik Air Base in the southeast of the country to carry out air strikes against ISIS.

The announcement of Turkey's renewed role in the fight against ISIS has been criticized by some as a veiled move to attack the PKK and other Kurdish groups.