Ahmet Yıldız, Turkey’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has called on the international community to refrain from treating Kurdish militant groups in Syria as legitimate actors, accusing them of promoting a separatist agenda in the country, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Yıldız’s remarks came on Monday during his address at a UN Security Council meeting in New York on the political and the humanitarian situation in Syria.
Ankara strongly opposes the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), because of its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long war in southeastern Turkey and is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The SDF is the de facto army of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria. It provided crucial assistance to a US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Yıldız said the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity is of “paramount importance” for the future of the country and the region as he accused the PKK, YPG and SDF of trying to advance their separatist agenda in Syria through all possible means and in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
In December 2015 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, which reaffirmed its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
Yıldız also expressed Turkey’s objections to the holding of local elections by the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in Syria.
The administration, which controls the northern and eastern parts of Syria, announced plans to hold municipal elections on June 11. However, the elections had to be postponed “until at least August” due to threats from Turkey. They would have been the first to extend to all seven areas under the semi-autonomous region’s control, home to both Arabs and Kurds, since Syria’s fragmentation during its civil war.
“The international community must collectively oppose any separatist attempt in Syria, including these so-called elections,” said Yıldız, as he called on the international community not to treat them as legitimate actors.
The Turkish diplomat said a Syrian-led political process can only be achieved with the participation of the Syrian people.
“This requires creating conditions in Syria for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrian refugees,” he said, highlighting the importance of preventing further displacement in the country.
“Therefore, in accordance with the relevant memoranda, Turkey will continue its efforts to ensure that ceasefire is observed in the Idlib de-escalation area,” he added.
The Turkish government supported early rebel efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar al- Assad at the start of the war in 2011, but has reversed course in recent years.
Earlier this month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he might invite Assad to Turkey “at any moment,” in a sign of reconciliation after ties between the two countries soured over the war in Syria.
Erdoğan has long said he could reconsider ties with Assad as his government is working to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees, which according to the United Nations, number 3.2 million in Turkey.