Syrian Kurdish leader says Turkey has entered Syrian 'quagmire,' faces defeat

Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) head Saleh Muslim speaks during a conference in Paris November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Files

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Saleh Muslim, head of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), wrote in a tweet on Wednesday that Turkey was entering a "quagmire" in Syria and faced defeat there like Islamic State after its forces hit targets in northern Syria. Turkey, supported by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition, struck Islamic State along its border on Wednesday. Ankara sees Muslim's PYD, which has also battled Islamic State with U.S. backing, as a threat because of its links with Kurdish militants waging their own insurgency on Turkish soil since 1984. "Turkey is in Syrian quagmire. Will be defeated as Daesh," Muslim tweeted in Turkish, Arabic and English. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. (Reporting by Asli Kandemir and Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Dasha Afanasieva)