Turkey will do “no matter it takes” to make sure its safety if the brand new Syrian administration can’t handle Ankara’s issues about U.S.-allied Kurdish teams it views as terrorist teams, International Minister Hakan Fidan mentioned on Saturday.
Turkey regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Staff Occasion (PKK) militants who’ve fought an insurgency towards the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.
Hostilities have escalated because the toppling of Bashar al-Assad lower than two weeks in the past, with Turkey and Syrian teams it backs seizing the town of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9. Assad’s fall has left the Kurdish factions on the again foot as they search to retain political features made within the final 13 years.
In an interview with France 24, Fidan mentioned Ankara’s most well-liked possibility was for the brand new administration in Damascus to handle the issue in keeping with Syria’s territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, including that the YPG ought to be disbanded instantly.
“If it doesn’t occur, we now have to guard our personal nationwide safety,” he mentioned. When requested if that included navy motion, Fidan mentioned: “no matter it takes.”
Requested about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s feedback about the potential for a negotiated resolution with Ankara, Fidan mentioned the group ought to search such a settlement with Damascus, as there was “a brand new actuality” there now.
“The brand new actuality, hopefully, they may handle these points, however on the identical time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we would like. We don’t wish to see any type of navy risk to ourselves. Not the current one, but in addition the potential one,” he added.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted a number of cross-border offensives towards the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, whereas repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt assist for the fighters.
The U.S.-backed SDF performed a serious position defeating Islamic State militants in 2014-2017 with U.S. air assist, and nonetheless guards its fighters in jail camps. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the Islamist group would attempt to re-establish capabilities on this interval.
Fidan mentioned he didn’t discover the latest uptick in U.S. troops in Syria to be the “proper resolution”, including the battle towards Islamic State was an “excuse” to take care of assist for the SDF.
“The struggle towards ISIS, there is just one job: to maintain ISIS prisoners in prisons, that’s it,” he mentioned.
Fidan additionally mentioned that the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which swept into Damascus to topple Assad, had “glorious cooperation” with Ankara within the battle towards Islamic State and al-Qaeda prior to now by means of intelligence sharing.
He additionally mentioned Turkey was not in favour of any international bases, together with Russian ones, remaining in Syria, however that the selection was as much as the Syrian individuals.
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