Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signaled that Ankara would support Syria’s new authorities in a large military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) if the group does not lay down its arms, according to a prominent pro-government columnist in Turkey.
Abdulkadir Selvi of the mass-circulation Hürriyet daily made the claim after Erdoğan’s speech on Tuesday at a commemoration in the eastern city of Muş.
In that address Erdoğan said, “If the sword leaves its sheath, there will be no place for the pen or for words,” and warned that those “seeking new foreign patrons” would lose, remarks widely read in Turkey as a message to Kurdish-led forces in Syria. Ankara has not announced a new operation and did not issue a formal plan in the speech.
Selvi wrote that if the SDF does not agree to give up its arms, Syria’s new leadership in Damascus would move against it with help from Turkey, Arab tribal factions and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. He framed Erdoğan’s comments as a green light for that course of action. Turkish news sites amplified the column on Wednesday.
The SDF is a coalition that includes the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Arab partner units. The United States built the partnership with the SDF during the fight against the Islamic State group and has continued counterterrorism operations in Syria, even as Washington reworks its posture in the country. Turkey says the YPG is the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey and its Western allies have designated as a terrorist group.
Selvi’s latest article follows earlier reports in August that said Damascus was preparing action in SDF-held areas and that a March framework for integrating SDF fighters into state structures had stalled.
Erdoğan’s comments came as the Syrian transition government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, seeks to centralize control and fold rival forces into state units. Sharaa has engaged with foreign envoys, including United States Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, amid a broader debate over the future of US troops and the terms of any SDF integration.
In June Reuters reported that Barrack planned to consolidate the US military footprint in Syria and encouraged SDF integration into national forces, a position that aligns in part with Ankara’s long-stated goal of ending the SDF’s autonomous command. The United States continues raids against Islamic State figures while maintaining a presence in the northeast.
Skirmishes between Damascus-linked fighters and SDF units have flared at times this summer and indicated the risk of escalation if negotiations falter.