Turkey will do ‘whatever it takes’ if Syria cannot address Kurd militia issue: Minister
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan holding a press conference with other Arab and European Union foreign policy leaders in Aqaba, Jordan on Dec 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ANKARA – Turkey will do “whatever it takes” to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara’s concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups that it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Dec 21.
Turkey regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Hostilities have escalated since the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad less than two weeks ago, with Turkey and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec 9.
Mr Assad’s fall has left the Kurdish factions on the back foot as they seek to retain political gains made in the last 13 years.
In an interview with France 24, Mr Fidan said Ankara’s preferred option was for the new administration in Damascus to address the problem in line with Syria’s territorial unity, sovereignty and integrity, adding that the YPG should be disbanded immediately.
“If it doesn’t happen, we have to protect our own national security,” he said. When asked if that included military action, Mr Fidan said: “Whatever it takes.”
Asked about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s comments about the possibility of a negotiated solution with Ankara, Mr Fidan said the group should seek such a settlement with Damascus, as there was “a new reality” there now.
“The new reality, hopefully, is they will address these issues, but at the same time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we want. We don’t want to see any form of military threat to ourselves. Not the present one, but also the potential one,” he added.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, while repeatedly demanding that its Nato ally Washington halt support for the fighters.
The US-backed SDF played a major role in defeating Islamic State militants from 2014 to 2017 with US air support, and still guards its fighters in prison camps.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the Islamist group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.
Mr Fidan said he did not find the recent uptick in US troops in Syria to be the “right decision”, adding that the battle against Islamic State was an “excuse” to maintain support for the SDF.
“The fight against (militant group) ISIS, there is only one job: to keep ISIS prisoners in prisons, that’s it,” he said.
Mr Fidan also said that the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which swept into Damascus to topple Assad, had “excellent cooperation” with Ankara in the battle against Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the past through intelligence sharing.
He also said Turkey was not in favour of any foreign bases, including Russian ones, remaining in Syria, but that the choice was up to the Syrian people. REUTERS
