FILE PHOTO: Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem speaks during a news conference in Damascus, Syria April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in a televised news conference on Monday that the Syrian Kurdish battle against Islamic State was “legitimate” and fell in the framework of preserving Syrian unity.

He was speaking in response to a question about U.S. support for Kurdish groups including the YPG militia, which Turkey regards as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militant fighters are battling Turkish forces.