Turkey will do “no matter it takes” to make sure its safety if the brand new Syrian administration can not handle Ankara’s considerations about U.S.-allied Kurdish teams it views as terrorist teams, International Minister Hakan Fidan stated on Saturday.
Turkey regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Employees Celebration (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 for the reason that toppling of Bashar al-Assad lower than two weeks in the past, with Turkey and Syrian teams it backs seizing 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 beneficial properties made within the final 13 years.
In an interview with France 24, Fidan stated Ankara’s most well-liked choice was for the brand new administration in Damascus to deal with the issue in keeping with Syria’s territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, including that the YPG must be disbanded instantly.
“If it does not occur, now we have to guard our personal nationwide safety,” he stated. When requested if that included navy motion, Fidan stated: “no matter it takes.”
Requested about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s feedback about the potential of a negotiated resolution with Ankara, Fidan stated 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 are going to handle these points, however on the similar time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we would like. We do not wish to see any type of navy menace 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 help for the fighters.
The U.S.-backed SDF performed a serious function defeating Islamic State militants in 2014-2017 with U.S. air help, 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 stated he did not discover the current uptick in U.S. troops in Syria to be the “proper choice”, including the battle towards Islamic State was an “excuse” to keep up help for the SDF.
“The battle towards ISIS, there is just one job: to maintain ISIS prisoners in prisons, that is it,” he stated.
Fidan additionally stated 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 up to now via intelligence sharing.
He additionally stated Turkey was not in favour of any overseas bases, together with Russian ones, remaining in Syria, however that the selection was as much as the Syrian folks.
This text was produced by Reuters information company. It has not been edited by World South World.
