ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday said there was no place for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in “new Syria”, while adding that the new authorities in Damascus would impose their rule over the whole of the country.
“This is not a time to wait and see. We must take action. The territorial integrity of Syria is non-negotiable. We want to reiterate that there is no place for the PKK/YPG in Syria,” Fidan said during a press conference along with the country’s new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday evening. “
Fidan added the new government in Damascus would “impose its authority on the entire country.”
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to be inextricably linked to its domestic foe, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). However, the YPG insists that they merely subscribe to a similar ideology.
The SDF considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria and the US’ primary ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the country, controls the bulk of northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter of the country's territory.
Clashes have erupted between the Kurdish forces and Turkey and its affiliated rebel groups in SDF-controlled areas since the start of the anti-government group’s campaign in late November, resulting in casualties and leading to the displacement of thousands of civilians.
Ankara has said it would press on with military preparations in northern Syria against the SDF until the groups are disarmed, claiming that the Kurdish-led force is a security threat to Turkey.
The US has intensely gotten on the line to broker a ceasefire between NATO ally Ankara, and Kurdish allies in northeastern Syria.
The US Department of State on Friday said they were engaging in discussions with both Turkey and the SDF to find “a managed transition” of the Kurdish-led group in northeast Syria.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara A. Leaf said during an online briefing that Washington was working on de-escalating the situation in northeast Syria and establishing a ceasefire around Kobani amid heightening tensions between the SDF and Turkey.
“We think the better – the best way ahead is for a ceasefire around Kobani and that we work, engage to find what I would call a managed transition in terms of SDF’s role in that part of the country,” said Leaf.
As part of his remarks on the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria, Fidan said, US president-elect Donald Trump knows better than to continue Washington's backing for Kurdish fighters over supporting the security needs of Turkey.
"When we look at it from America's interests, as a mathematical calculation -- whether Turkey or a terrorist organization like the PKK is more important -- Mr. Trump sees the mathematics immediately.”
An 11-day sweeping rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8.
Soon after the Damascus regime's downfall, opposition groups formed an interim government that would last until March 1 under Mohammed al-Bashir's leadership.
Syria’s new ruler Sharaa, for his part, said all weapons in Syria would come under state control including those held by Kurdish-led forces.
He went on to say that they would "absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control, whether from the revolutionary factions or the factions present in the SDF area."
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