Turkey's DEM Party says Syria deal leaves Ankara with 'no excuses', peace process must continue

ANKARA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party said a deal integrating Syrian Kurdish forces with Damascus removed Ankara's long-standing argument that developments in Syria were blocking progress in a domestic Kurdish peace process, in some of the party's first public comments a day after the agreement.

Party co-leader Tuncer Bakirhan told Reuters that rolling back Kurdish territorial gains across the border did not eliminate the need for talks at home, and cautioned against any assumption that the peace process had become unnecessary following the Syria deal.