The fall of Bashar Assad to Islamist-led rebels has raised the prospect of Turkey intervening in Syria against Kurdish forces accused by Ankara of links to armed separatists.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that eradication of the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was "imminent", and that Ankara would not agree to any policy that allowed the YPG to maintain a presence there.

Since the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month by rebels, some of whom Turkey supported, Ankara has demanded that the YPG disband, its non-Syrian militants and foreign terrorist fighters leave Syria, or be repatriated to their source countries, and its leaders turn themselves in.

Turkey threatened Tuesday to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara's conditions for a "bloodless" transition after the fall of strongman president Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey is working to ensure that Syria's transformation over the last month will not bring new instabilities to the region, President Tayyip Erdogan told the Iraqi Kurdish prime minister, Erdogan's office said on Tuesday.

Turkish President Erdogan has threatened military action in Syria to prevent its division and eliminate terrorist groups like the PKK and YPG. Turkey aims to maintain Syria’s unity, improve relations with its new government,