‘Turkiye wants SDF to show it abides deal with Damascus’

ISTANBUL: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) must prove it is adhering to a recent integration agreement with the Syrian government, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Wednesday.

Syria’s territorial integrity is essential for regional stability and Ankara is closely monitoring events there,
following a deal reached on March 10 between Damascus and the SDF, which Turkey considers a terrorist organisation.

“The SDF must concretely demonstrate that it is abiding by the agreement it made with the Damascus government,” the defence ministry source said, requesting anonymity.

Turkiye has repeatedly said it would not tolerate moves that could lead to the fragmentation of Syria and has voiced opposition to any form of autonomy for Kurdish groups near its southern border.

YOU CANNOT DIVIDE SYRIA

Earlier on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that Turkiye will directly intervene to stop any attempt to fragment Syria and prevent any attempts by militants to obtain autonomy after clashes in southern Syria.

His warning against fragmentation, in comments to reporters in Ankara, appeared aimed at Israel as Turkiye considers this to be Israel’s ultimate aim in Syria.

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Fidan said Israel wanted a divided Syria to make the country unstable, weaker and a liability to the region, and added that Kurdish YPG militants were looking to take advantage of the chaos.

“God willing, we will prevent this policy from being realised,” he said.

In an apparent reference to the YPG, he said groups in Syria should not see such chaos as a tactical opportunity to achieve autonomy or independence within Syria and that they faced “a big strategic catastrophe”.

“This leads nowhere,” he said.

“We are warning you: no group should engage in acts towards division,” Fidan said.

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He said many issues could be discussed via diplomacy “but if you go beyond this and seek fragmentation and destabilising we will consider this a direct threat to our security and intervene.”

At the same time, Fidan said Turkiye would support efforts to secure peace and stability in Syria, and talks on this, but would not let itself be exposed to threats.