Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday that Syria’s new administration should be given a chance to address the presence of Kurdish militants in the country but warned that Turkey’s military would intervene if progress isn’t made, Reuters reported.
Since the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by rebels last month — some of whom have received long-standing support from Turkey — Ankara has pressed for the disbanding of the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), the withdrawal of its foreign fighters and the laying down of their arms.
“We see that there is an agenda in the new administration to end the occupation and terror that the YPG has created in the region,” Fidan said at a press conference in İstanbul. “We believe that an opportunity needs to be given to them to accomplish this. We are waiting for this now,” he added, without specifying a deadline.
Ankara has repeatedly threatened military action against the YPG, which dominates northeastern Syria, if its demands remain unmet.
Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. However, the YPG leads the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Washington sees as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State.
Fidan said he anticipated no conflict with the United States over counterterrorism efforts in Syria despite its support for the YPG, suggesting this would depend on the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Turkey is also reassessing its military presence in northern Syria, where it controls territory following several cross-border operations targeting the YPG.