Shafaq News/ Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar expressed his country's refusal to arm the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) by "allies", in reference to the U.S.

 This came in a speech by the minister on the sidelines of his visit to the Second Army Command in Malatya city in Turkey, according to the Anadolu Agency.

 He said that Turkey has thwarted attempts to establish passages for "terrorists" in the southern border with Syria, through military operations it carried out in the region in recent years.

 He said that in parallel with the fight against terrorism inside the country and in northern Syria and Iraq, the Turkish army "continues to protect the interests of Turkey and Turkish Cyprus in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas."