Türkiye urges Blinken to stop sheltering Kurdish fighters in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stated that Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are vital to the US in its fight against Islamic State (IS) extremists, should not be sheltered in Syria.

Fidan made these comments during a phone talk with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

According to a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Fidan told Blinken that the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation must not be allowed to take refuge in Syria, referring to the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

Türkiye has long been frustrated by US support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, viewing the YPG – the main component of the SDF – as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Türkiye.

However, the US has regarded the SDF, which played a central role in defeating IS jihadists in 2019, as essential for preventing the resurgence of jihadist groups in the region. Fidan also told Blinken that Türkiye supports the efforts of Syria's new leadership to ensure the country's territorial integrity and security.

He emphasised the importance of cooperating with the new Syrian government to ensure stability and effectively complete the transition process in Syria. 

On December 25, Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), launched a counteroffensive against the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in an effort to reclaim areas near the northern section of the Turkish-Syrian border.

The Kurdish-led SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country’s east. Since the fall of Bashar Assad's totalitarian regime earlier this month, fighting has escalated between the US-backed forces and the Syrian National Army (SNA), which recently seized the strategic city of Manbij and its surrounding areas. These intense, weeks-long clashes occur as Syria, ravaged by over a decade of war and economic hardship, faces crucial negotiations regarding its political future after more than fifty years under the Assad dynasty’s rule. 

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson for the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), which operates within the SDF, said that its fighters are currently just over 11 kilometres (7 miles) from the centre of Manbij as they continue their counteroffensive.

By Naila Huseynova