Turkey on Friday hit out at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for saying Washington will ensure Ankara does not "slaughter" Kurds in Syria as American troops withdraw.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the press at the State Department in Washington, DC following the first US-Greece Strategic Dialogue on December 13, 2018. (File photo: VCG)

"Pompeo equating the YPG terror organisation with Kurds, even if it is not intentional, shows a worrying lack of knowledge," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement. Ankara views the US-backed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia as a "terrorist offshoot" of insurgents inside Turkey.