NATO nation eyeing attack on US-backed Kurds – media

Türkiye and Syria will try to “remove” Kurdish units from border areas unless they lay down their arms, Hurriyet has reported

Türkiye and the new leadership in Damascus could launch an offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces unless they willingly integrate with the Syrian military, Hurriyet reported on Tuesday. Kurdish units operating in Syria received US assistance for years, despite being viewed as terrorists by Ankara.

According to the Turkish daily, once a new interim government becomes fully operational, following the ouster of ex-Syrian President Bashar Assad, an appeal “will be made to terrorist organizations, primarily the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), to lay down their weapons and join the Syrian army.”

The newspaper also cited Syria’s new de facto leader Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, as saying that “it is not possible for us to accept any group having weapons in their hands, even in areas where the PKK and the [Kurdish] People’s Defense Units (YPG) are present.”

If the militants fail to comply, “the Syrian army and the Turkish Armed Forces will conduct a joint operation to remove the PKK and YPG from the lands they control,” Hurriyet said.

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The two Kurdish organizations typically operate in northern Syria near Türkiye’s border and have long demanded greater autonomy from both Ankara and Damascus. The YPG has also received significant military assistance from the US as part of its anti-IS campaign. Ankara has consistently criticized this effort, suggesting that part of the assistance ends up in PKK hands, an organization Washington also views as terrorist.

While Türkiye has for years been at loggerheads with Syria under Assad, his ouster has ushered in an apparent thaw in bilateral relations. On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with al-Sharaa in Damascus, stressing the need for stability in the war-ravaged country and calling for the lifting of international sanctions that have long crippled the Syrian economy.

Several Turkish media outlets have also indicated that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could also travel to Syria this week at the head of a large delegation.

Assad was ousted earlier this month after a surprise jihadist offensive that caught the Syrian army off guard, with the ex-president being granted asylum in Russia, which has military bases in the country. Numerous nations including Russia have since established contacts with the new Syrian leadership.

Commenting on the fate of the Kurds in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not rule out the possibility that Türkiye would conduct a military operation against them to drive them from the border zone.