The U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG cannot retain its own bloc within the broader integrated Syrian armed forces, the defense minister said on Sunday. Speaking to Reuters at the Defense Ministry in Damascus on Sunday, Murhaf Abu Qasra said the heads of YPG fighters were procrastinating in handling the complex issue.
The YPG, the Syrian wing of the terrorist group PKK – which has killed thousands in Türkiye in more than four decades, established itself as a semi-autonomous entity in Syria’s northeast, exploiting the security vacuum amid the civil war. When 14 years of civil war came to an end last December, it engaged in talks with the new rulers of Syria led by anti-regime forces that ousted the Assad regime.
YPG leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin recently said that one of their central demands is a decentralized administration, saying in an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Asharq News channel last week that they were open to integrating with the Defense Ministry but as “a military bloc,” and without dissolving.
Abu Qasra rejected that proposal. “We say that they would enter the Defense Ministry within the hierarchy of the Defense Ministry and be distributed militarily – we have no issue there,” said Abu Qasra, who was appointed defense minister on Dec. 21. “But for them to remain a military bloc within the Defense Ministry, such a bloc within a big institution is not right.”
Since taking office, the minister has prioritized integrating Syria’s myriad anti-Assad factions into a unified command structure.
But doing so with the YPG has proved challenging. The U.S. considers the group a key ally against Daesh, but neighboring Türkiye regards it as a national security threat. Ankara has been critical of NATO ally U.S.’ support for YPG, although Washington designated the PKK as a terrorist group.
Abu Qasra said he had met the YPG’s leaders but accused them of “procrastinating” in talks over their integration and said incorporating them in the Defense Ministry like other factions was “a right of the Syrian state.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday reiterated Türkiye’s determination to eliminate terrorist groups, which he said would be either “peacefully or by force.” Speaking at the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) 8th Provincial Congress in Kayseri province, Erdoğan said: “As Türkiye, our goal is to ensure the peaceful or forceful elimination of all terrorist organizations in Syria.”
He also said that the PKK/YPG structure has now become defunct, adding that “like every structure that has expired while serving the agenda of others, it is close to being thrown into the trash.”
“If those who turned Syria and our region into hell with the plot of Daesh in the recent past are once again attempting to set the same trap, this time they will not succeed,” the president added.
Erdoğan emphasized that the sole aim of their People’s Alliance is to establish a terror-free Türkiye, reiterating that no other negotiations or intentions exist beyond this objective. Türkiye is going through a new stage in the fight against the PKK with the “terror-free Türkiye initiative” proposed by a government ally that may reduce the risk of violence at a time of regional threats. The plan, at least for now, focuses on persuading the terrorist group to lay down arms, while future steps will likely depend on the actions of the PKK and its affiliates, from a political party involved in the new initiative to the Syrian wing of the group. The YPG is a major component of the terrorism problem. It already faces pressure from the Syrian National Army (SNA), which captured several towns from the terrorist group. Şahin appears to be backing the terror-free Türkiye initiative and recently said it would have “a positive impact.”
Abu Qasra also said he hoped to finish the integration process, including appointing some senior military figures, by March 1, when the transitional government’s time in power is set to end. He asked how he responded to criticism that a transitional council should not make such appointments or carry out such sweeping changes to the military infrastructure, and he said “security issues” had prompted the new state to prioritize the matter. “We are in a race against time and every day makes a difference,” he said.
The new administration was also criticized for giving some foreigners, including Egyptians and Jordanians, ranks in the new military. Abu Qasra acknowledged the decision had created a firestorm but said he was unaware of any requests to extradite any foreign fighters.