Turkey on Tuesday, January 26 said it strongly opposes the Syrian Kurdish group Democratic Union Party (PYD) taking part in UN-backed talks planned for later this week seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis, AFP reports.

"We are categorically against the YPG and PYD sitting at the table," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told ruling party's lawmakers in parliament.

Turkey considers the PYD and its military wing the People's Protection Units (YPG) to be offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which wages an armed insurgency against Ankara.