Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has threatened to “bury” Kurdish fighters in Syria unless they lay down their arms. Erdoğan made the threat during remarks to the Turkish parliament on Wednesday, insisting the Kurdish YPG militia must disband.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “As I said after the Cabinet meeting, business as usual is no longer possible. The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons or be buried in Syrian soil alongside their weapons.”

On Monday, thousands of women rallied in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli demanding Syria’s new leaders respect women’s rights. They also condemned Turkish-backed attacks on Kurdish groups. Many of the protesters waved the green, yellow and red flags of the Women’s Protection Units, an affiliate of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia that Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

Hemrin Ali: “Today, all women in the Jazira region, including Kurds, Arabs and Syriacs, are uniting their voices, saying yes to supporting the Women’s Protection Units, YPJ, yes to preserving the rights and gains of the women’s revolution in northern and eastern Syria. Today, we are safeguarding all the achievements of northern and eastern Syria by demanding freedom and rights for all women, without discrimination.”

Later in the broadcast, we’ll go to Damascus for an update from Syrian journalist and BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab.