European Union countries and the United States are looking to pressure Türkiye to safeguard the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing YPG, their “partner” against Daesh, as the fall of the Assad regime worries the terrorist group, now cornered in the northeast.
France is working to find an arrangement between Türkiye and the PKK/YPG in northeastern Syria, its foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said Wednesday, adding that the YPG had to be part of any political transition process in a new Damascus government.
“We are convinced that it is possible to find an arrangement that satisfies the interests of everyone. We are working on it,” Barrot said, declining to give further details.
He stressed the need to “guarantee the rights” of PKK/YPG partners in Syria, noting French President Emmanuel Macron had made the point to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when they spoke earlier on Wednesday.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said she would make clear to Türkiye on a visit on Friday that the rights of the PKK/YPG in northern Syria must be protected.
U.S. threatens sanctions
Meanwhile, two U.S. senators threatened sanctions on Türkiye if it refused to accept a U.S.-brokered “cease-fire” with Washington’s PKK/YPG allies in northern Syria.
The Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has planned an offensive against Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani, after opposition forces toppled Assad’s regime earlier this month.
Located opposite the Turkish town of Suruç, Ain al-Arab is a stronghold of the YPG, part of the PKK, which has killed thousands over the past few decades in Türkiye. The SNA was quick to capture Tal Rifaat and Manbij, held by terrorists as anti-regime forces were advancing toward Aleppo and eventually Damascus last month.
The SNA’s Operation Dawn of Freedom thwarted the PKK/YPG’s plans to capture towns abandoned by forces loyal to the Assad regime.
Several media outlets claimed a Turkish military buildup on the Syrian border, possibly for a new operation against the terrorist group, though Turkish officials have yet to confirm it.
Ankara has staged multiple operations against the PKK/YPG since 2016, liberating several cities, now controlled by the Syrian opposition, paving the way for safe returns of refugees in Türkiye. But the terrorist group has been bent on carving what Turkish officials have called a “terror corridor” along the border.
Washington says it understands Türkiye’s “legitimate concerns” about the threats the PKK/YPG poses, but it also repeatedly said it would maintain support for the YPG, its primary Syrian partner in the fight against Daesh.
Washington claimed it brokered a cease-fire between Türkiye and the PKK/YPG last week, which State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said was “extended” until the end of this week. Both claims regarding a cease-fire were denied by Ankara.
U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen, of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, spoke to YPG leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin, code-named “Mazloum Kobani,” on Tuesday, stressing that Washington “cannot sit idly by” and watch its YPG “allies” be attacked.
“The U.S. must immediately use all the tools at our disposal to press for a sustained cease-fire and a demilitarized zone. If Turkey does not accept those terms, we tend to introduce bipartisan sanctions legislation this week,” a joint statement from both senators said.
“While Turkey has some legitimate security concerns that can be addressed, these developments are undermining regional security,” the statement added.
The demand for a “cease-fire extension” came amid a push from the PKK/YPG for a “demilitarized zone” in Ain al-Arab under U.S. supervision, an initiative claiming it “aims to address Turkish security concerns and ensure the long-term stability of the region.”
Earlier in December, Senator Graham said that Turkish attacks jeopardize American interests and risk the jailbreak of tens of thousands of Daesh prisoners held in northeast Syria, urging protection of PKK/YPG terrorists from Türkiye.
Dissolving YPG
Western support for the terrorist group is drawing Ankara’s ire, which has repeatedly urged its allies to heed its security concerns.
In an interview with broadcaster Al-Jazeera on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned Syria’s new rulers to address the issue of the PKK/YPG in the country.
“There is a new administration in Damascus now. I think this is primarily their concern now,” the minister said.
“So, I think if they are going to address this issue properly, there would be no reason for us to intervene.”
Fidan was responding to a question about rumors that Türkiye could launch an offensive on Ain al-Arab.
The military chief of Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the anti-regime forces that toppled Assad, said on Tuesday it would be “the first” to dissolve its armed wing and strengthen the army’s armed forces.
“In any state, all military units must be integrated into this institution,” HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He added that YPG-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country’s new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism and that “Syria will not be divided.”
“The Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people … Syria will not be divided and there will be no federal entities,” he said.