ANKARA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Presidential spokesman said on Sunday that it was irrational to claim "Turkey targets Kurds" in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkey's real targets were the militants of the Islamic State, the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoots, the spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said.

Turkey will "resolutely continue its efforts to end the bloody civil war in Syria and provide security to Syrians regardless of their religion and ethnicity," the presidential spokesperson added.

Kalin's comments came after White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, who planned to visit Ankara this week, said he would stress in talks with Turkish officials that the Kurds must be safeguarded.

In mid-December last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a cross-border operation against the Kurdish militias in northern Syria, vowing that Ankara would never allow a "terror corridor" on its southern border.