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Syria’s new leader cool to possible Turkish military operation against Kurds

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Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now the de facto president of Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, has said he does not find a possible Turkish operation targeting Syrian Kurds in the country’s north “appropriate” and wants to give more time to Kurds for a solution without any bloodshed.

His remarks came during an exclusive interview with Turkey’s pro-government A Haber news in Damascus on Thursday.

Turkey views the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) as terrorist groups and offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody war in the country’s southeast since 1984 and is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.

Turkey stepped up its rhetoric against Syria’s Kurds following the ouster of al-Assad by an alliance of rebel groups led by militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8 following an 11-day offensive, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan frequently raising the likelihood of a military operation against the Syrian Kurdish groups unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition.

Al-Sharaa is the leader of former al-Qaeda affiliate HTS, which is now leading Syria.

When asked whether his administration would support Turkey in the event of its taking military action against the SDF and what actions the Syrian administration could take to ease Turkey’s security concerns, al-Sharaa said the Syrian government does not see such a military operation to be “appropriate” at the moment and gives more weight to talks with the Syrian Kurds to find a solution.

He said some Arab and Kurdish clans east of the Euphrates are also against the presence of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the PKK in the region, so the Syrian government wants to give some time to the Syrian Kurdish groups without any military solution. Al-Sharaa added that Turkey is aware of these talks and promised to do his best to help protect Turkey’s borders.

Since 2016 Turkey has carried out successive ground operations in Syria to push Kurdish forces away from its border. It has faced accusations of striking civilian and military targets and infrastructure and causing casualties during its operations in northeast Syria.

The SDF has been a key US ally in combating the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and is backed by the US with weapons and training.

In the interview al-Sharaa also said that Turkey will be one of the first countries he would visit, along with Saudi Arabia, adding that he is waiting for an invitation and that no date has been set yet.

According to the new Syrian leader, President Erdoğan was among the first to call him and congragulate him over their victory last month.

“We felt a great closeness and a sense of gratitude toward Turkey for this support,” he added.

After the fall of Assad, İbrahim Kalın, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), became the first foreign official to visit Damascus, followed by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Following the Turkish officials, representatives from the US and Europe began to visit the Syrian capital.

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