The Turkish Defense Ministry has reiterated its determination to continue with military operations in northern Syria if the Kurdish militant groups in the region, viewed as terrorists by Turkey, do not lay down their arms, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
A Thursday statement from the ministry said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is determined to continue cross-border operations if “terrorist” groups do not respect the territorial integrity of Syria and disarm.
Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, Turkey increased its rhetoric against Kurdish militant groups in Syria, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) since it sees them as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
In its statement the ministry accused the PKK, YPG and SDF of using civilians as human shields at the Tishrin Dam, located on the Euphrates, and of trying to use strategic infrastructure to disrupt stability in the region.
The ministry also called on the international community to recognize these groups, which allied with Western forces in their fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as terrorists and to cooperate with Turkey in its fight against terrorism.
The PKK has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s southeast since 1984.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also raised the possibility of a military operation against Kurdish groups in Syria earlier this week, saying that the eradication of the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria was “imminent” and that Ankara would not accept any policy that allowed the YPG to maintain a foothold in the country. He also warned about a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition.
Since 2016 Turkey has carried out successive ground operations in Syria to push Kurdish forces away from its border. It has faced accusations of hitting civilian and military targets and infrastructure and causing casualties during its operations in northeast Syria.
SDF against Syria’s division
On Wednesday Mazloum Abdi, who heads the US-backed SDF, said his group supported “the unity and integrity of Syrian territory.” In a written statement to Agence France-Presse, he called on Syria’s new authorities “to intervene in order for there to be a ceasefire throughout Syria.”
Abdi’s comments followed what he called a “positive” meeting between Kurdish leaders and the Damascus authorities late last month.
The SDF played an important role in defeating ISIL militants in Syria between 2014 and 2017. The group still guards thousands of ISIL fighters and their families in prison camps there but has been on the back foot since rebels ousted al-Assad.
US, French troops on Turkish-Syrian border?
Meanwhile, a senior Syrian Kurdish official said there are ongoing talks on whether US and French troops could secure the border zone in northern Syria as part of efforts to defuse the conflict between Turkey and Kurdish Syrian forces, the Arab Weekly newspaper reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that Paris would not abandon the SDF, which was one among a myriad of opposition forces during Syria’s 13-year civil war.
“The United States and France could indeed secure the entire border. We are ready for this military coalition to assume this responsibility,” Ilham Ahmed, co-chairman of foreign affairs for the Kurdish administration in the northern territory outside central Syrian government control, was quoted as saying by TV5 Monde.
“We ask the French to send troops to this border to secure the demilitarized zone, to help us protect the region and establish good relations with Turkey.”
Neither France nor Turkey’s foreign ministries immediately responded to requests for comment. The US State Department was not immediately available for comment.
It is unclear how receptive Turkey would be to such an initiative, given the fact that Ankara has worked for years to secure its border against threats coming from Syria and has vowed to destroy the YPG.
“As soon as France has convinced Turkey to accept its presence on the border, then we can start the peace process,” Ahmed said. “We hope that everything will be settled in the coming weeks.”
A source familiar with the matter said such talks were going on but declined to say how advanced or realistic they were.