The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which leads the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), should stop “playing for time” and abide by its integration agreement with the Syrian government, Turkey’s foreign minister said Wednesday, warning that Ankara will not tolerate continued threats to its security, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara with his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shibani, said Turkey is closely monitoring developments in Syria and supports ongoing efforts to stabilize the country.
He urged the YPG to end its role as a security threat by disbanding foreign fighters it has brought in from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Europe.
“We are starting to see developments that we find increasingly difficult to tolerate,” Fidan said. “Neither after March 10 nor after the recent [peace] process in Turkey have we seen any reassuring steps from the group to eliminate the armed threat in Syria. On the contrary, they seem to be waiting for potential crises to maximize their gains. They shouldn’t think we don’t see this.”
Bakanımız @HakanFidan, Suriye Arap Cumhuriyeti Dışişleri Bakanı Esad Hasan Şeybani, Savunma Bakanı Murhef Ebu Kasra ve Genel İstihbarat Başkanı Hüseyin El Seleme ile Ankara'da görüştü. 🇹🇷🇸🇾 pic.twitter.com/Y1mMxkqlgn
— T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_Disisleri) August 13, 2025
The SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria, signed an agreement with Damascus in March to integrate into the Syrian state apparatus. Ankara considers both the SDF and YPG as terrorist organizations, regarding the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Fidan’s remarks come amid Ankara’s peace efforts with the PKK, which destroyed weapons in a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq on July 11 in line with a call from its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who in February called on the militant group to lay down its arms and disband. Turkey wants all other Kurdish militant groups affiliated with the PKK in the region to lay down their arms as well.
“In an environment where Turkey’s security demands in Syria are not met, we cannot stay idle here,” Fidan said. “My call to the YPG is to immediately cease being a threat to Turkey and the region with the terrorists they have gathered from around the world,” he said.
The SDF has long been in conflict with Turkey-backed Syrian armed groups in northern Syria. While Turkey says the PKK and YPG are linked, the YPG has previously said PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s calls do not apply to it.
The SDF has been rejecting Turkish calls for it to give up their weapons as part of Ankara’s broader peace efforts with Kurdish militants, saying the situation in Syria requires integration, not the laying down of arms.
Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, told BBC’s Turkish service last month that the SDF’s continued armed presence is necessary due to ongoing security threats, particularly from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) remnants and the lack of a permanent Syrian constitution.
“The situation in Syria is really different,” Ahmed said. “Our fight and resistance against ISIL has its own unique nature. These groups still exist and the threat continues. Therefore, we are talking about a process of integration rather than a process of laying down arms.”