ANKARA (Reuters) - The Kurdish YPG militia’s fight with Islamic State in Syria was “a huge lie”, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, as he criticized U.S. comments that Ankara must agree to protect Washington’s Kurdish allies.

Turkey sees the YPG, which the United States has backed in the fight against Islamic State, as a terrorist organization and part of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Erdogan was making a speech to his AK Party lawmakers in parliament.