Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, stated that the U.S. should maintain its support for the PKK/YPG-led SDF to “prevent” a resurgence of Daesh in Syria.
“Yeah. Well absolutely,” Rubio responded to a question during a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing as to whether he agrees the U.S. should continue to support the SDF in the fight against Daesh.
“Not only that, but I think we also need to recognize that there are implications to abandoning partners who have a great sacrifice,” said Rubio.
He said the new rulers in Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime, do not “gives us comfort. That said, it is in the national interest of the United States, if possible, to have a Syria that’s no longer a playground for ISIS,” he said, using a different acronym for Daesh.
“We understand that Türkiye has legitimate security concerns along that border. Turkish citizens, Turkish towns, Turkish cities have come under attack by terrorists from across that border,” White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“They absolutely have a legitimate right to be able to defend themselves against terrorist attacks. We understand that, and we are in active conversations with the Turks about how we do that, how they do that,” Kirby added.
He said the U.S. does not want to “see our operations of a nature that compel our SDF partners to focus on other things than the counter ISIS mission.”
“That’s what we’re focused on now. We conduct that mission,” he said, adding that the US partnership with PKK/YPG-led SDF forces will continue.
In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The PKK/YPG terror group has sought to exploit uncertainty since the fall of the Assad regime to step up efforts to establish a “terrorist corridor” along the border with Türkiye.