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Turkey’s top diplomat on Saturday said Syrian Kurdish fighters essential for the United States in the fight against Islamic State (IS) extremists cannot be sheltered in Syria, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Blinken that “the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation cannot be allowed to take shelter in Syria,” the ministry spokesman said, referring to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) Ankara views as a terror group.
Turkey has long been rankled by the United States’ support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. Ankara sees YPG — the main component of the SDF — as an extension of its outlawed domestic foe the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
But Washington has long seen the SDF — which spearheaded the fight that defeated Islamic State group jihadists in 2019 — as crucial to preventing a jihadist resurgence in the area.
Fidan told Blinken that Ankara backed the efforts of Syria’s new rulers to “ensure the territorial integrity and security” of the country.
He also said during the phone call that “it is important to act in cooperation with the new Syrian administration in order to ensure stability in Syria and to complete the transition period in an orderly manner,” according to the ministry spokesperson.
fo/giv
