Turkey says Kurdish militia should not be in Syrian Raqqa operation

ANKARA (Reuters) - A planned operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State should be carried out by local forces and the Kurdish YPG militia should not be included, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. The United States regards the YPG as an ally in its fight against Islamic State, but Turkey regards it as a terrorist organization because of its links with Kurdish militants fighting a three-decade insurgency in Turkey. Cavusoglu was speaking at a news conference in Ankara. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall)