SYRIA WAR – France has offered to mediate in the conflict in northern Syria, where Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish fighters in January.
Ankara is battling to drive out the Kurdish YPG militia, which it sees as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
President Emmanuel Macron met members of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, including the YPG.
Mr Macron expressed hopes for dialogue between Turkey and the militia.
His office said he had “paid tribute to the sacrifices and the determining role” of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.
France has suffered a series of deadly terror attacks claimed by IS in recent years, including the Paris attacks which killed 130 people in 2015.
Just a week ago, an IS sympathiser killed three people in a rampage in southern France, including a police officer who died after swapping places with a hostage.
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