Turkey deplores French stance on Syrian shelling of PYD positions

Turkey has expressed dissatisfaction over France's reaction to the Turkish military's intervention against Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), media reports said on Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made his country's stance clear in a phone call with France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday, Xinhua quoted the diplomatic sources as saying.

Earlier, the French Foreign Ministry called upon Turkey to stop its shelling of PYD positions.

Cavusoglu said Turkey was fighting a terror organisation in Syria, adding that French authorities were well-aware of the battle, according to the sources.

According to Turkish security officials, Turkey began shelling positions of the PYD, regarded by the Turkish government as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkey fears that the PYD's capture of Azaz, a critical town in the Syrian conflict, could spark a new refugee influx towards the Turkish border.

The European Union and the US have called on Turkey to stop hitting Syria and refrain from further complicating the efforts of world powers to halt the hostilities within a week.