Turkish foreign minister says no room for Kurdish militants in Syria’s future

December 23, 2024 MeighTimbol News 0
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, in Damascus, Syria, December 22, 2024. Turkish Foreign… Purchase Licensing Rights
REUTERS | Published December 23, 2024
ANKARA, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Turkey’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria’s de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria’s future, calling for the YPG militia to disband.
Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Sunday’s visit to Damascus by Hakan Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow two weeks ago, came amid hostilities in northeast Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the YPG, which spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.
Speaking alongside Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“In the coming period, the YPG must come to a point where it is no longer a threat to Syria’s national unity,” Fidan said, adding the YPG should disband.
The SDF played a key role defeating Islamic State militants in 2014-2017 with U.S. air support, and still guards Islamic State fighters in prison camps. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the Islamist group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.

Fidan said the international community was “turning a blind eye” to the “illegality” of the SDF and YPG’s actions in Syria, but added that he believed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would take a different approach.

He said the new Syrian administration had told him during their talks that they could manage the Islamic State prison camps, if needed.
In a Reuters interview on Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle Islamic State and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Turkey. He denied any organisational ties with the PKK.

 

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SOURCE: www.reuters.com

RELATED: Turkiye FM meets Syria’s new leader, calls for lifting of global sanctions

Meeting comes two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his minister will visit Damascus to discuss the new structure in Syria.

Published December 23, 2024

Turkiye’s foreign minister has met with the head of Syria’s new administration, promising help with the political transition and rebuilding the war-torn country after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

In their meeting in Damascus on Sunday, Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan and Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa stressed the need for unity and stability in Syria, as they called for the lifting of all international sanctions against the war-ravaged country.

Photographs and footage shared by the Turkish ministry showed Fidan and al-Sharaa hug and shake hands, their meeting coming two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Fidan would be going to Damascus to discuss the new structure in Syria.

Addressing the news conference with al-Sharaa, Fidan said Turkiye “will continue to stand by your side … Hopefully the darkest days of Syria are behind [and] better days await us.”

Fidan said sanctions on Damascus must be lifted “as soon as possible” and the international community “needs to mobilise to help Syria get back on its feet and for the displaced people to return”.

Al-Sharaa, who was holding his first public news conference since leading the operation to topple al-Assad and assume power two weeks ago, also called on the international community to lift all sanctions against Syria.

 

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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com

 

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