Turkey insists foreign fighters be expelled from Syria: defense ministry

Turkey said on Thursday “terrorists” must lay down their arms and foreign fighters must be expelled from Syria, after an agreement was signed on Monday between Syria’s new government and the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Agence France-Presse reported.

“As Turkey, we remain determined to fight against terrorism,” a Turkish defense ministry source said.

“There’s no change in our expectations for an end to terrorist activities in Syria, for terrorists to lay down their weapons and for foreign terrorists to be removed from Syria,” the source added.

Syria’s new authorities have sought to disband armed groups and establish government control over the entire country since ousting long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December after more than 13 years of civil war.

On Monday the Syrian presidential office announced an agreement with the head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate the autonomous Kurdish administration into the national government.

The Kurdish administration has governed much of northeastern Syria for the past decade.

The SDF — seen as essential in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — is dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara views the YPG as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group dominated by ethnic Kurds in Turkey that has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan in February called for the group to lay down its weapons and disband.

‘Step in right direction’

The PKK, designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, announced a ceasefire after Öcalan’s historic call, saying: “None of our forces will carry out any armed operations unless they are attacked.”

Ankara has said that if the promises are not kept, Turkish forces will continue their current anti-PKK operations.

Turkey — which has pressed Syria’s new leaders to address the issue of the YPG’s control over substantial parts of northern Syria — is watching with interest the process of integrating the SDF into the Syrian government.

“We’ll see how the agreement is be implemented … in the field,” the defense ministry source said.

“We will closely follow its positive or negative consequences.”

Since 2016 Turkey has carried out a series of military ground operations in Syria to force Kurdish forces away from its border.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday the full implementation of the agreement would serve peace and security and benefit all Syrians.

“We see every effort to cleanse Syria of terrorism as a step in the right direction,” he said.

The United States — which had in recent years allied with the SDF to battle ISIL, to the dismay of Turkey — also welcomed the agreement in Syria.

Turkey will host a regional summit in April to discuss anti-ISIL operations, a Turkish diplomatic source told AFP, adding that venue and the time had yet to be confirmed.