The Syrian National Army (SNA) started dispatching heavy weaponry to the front lines in their fight against the terrorist group PKK/YPG on Tuesday. The weaponry is accompanied by more fighters to the front covering an area near Ain al-Arab (also known as Kobani), Ain Issa and Tal Tamer where terrorists are active. The area is located near a region where Türkiye conducted Operation Peace Spring in 2019 against the terrorist group. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned on Tuesday that a new cross-border operation might be in the works if terrorists do not heed their call to dissolve their organization.
Abu Abdullah Muhammad, who commands a unit of the SNA in Ras Al-Ain, a city near the border with Türkiye, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they heightened their military preparations against the terrorists.
Swathes of northern Syria, including oil-rich areas, have been occupied by the PKK/YPG since 2015.
Fighting has raged around the Arab-majority city of Manbij, controlled by the so-called Manbij Military Council, a group operating under the YPG, since anti-regime forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled longtime regime ruler Bashar Assad on Dec. 8. The SNA’s Operation Dawn of Freedom, which ran parallel with anti-regime forces’ push to Damascus, led to capture of Manbij and Tal Rifaat, as well as the strategic Tishrin Dam from the PKK/YPG.
The United States, the main ally of the terrorist group, is reportedly building a military base to help the terrorists, according to local media.
Local journalists said last week 13 trucks with U.S. flags and carrying concrete construction blocks arrived in the PKK/YPG’s stronghold Ain al-Arab. The U.S. military has emptied a base in neighboring Iraq and the concrete blocks and other materials are being shipped to Ain al-Arab for a Syrian base, according to local sources. Earlier, the U.S. military transferred dozens of Bradley armored vehicles to the region and supplied air defense systems and other armored vehicles to the YPG.
At least 24 fighters, mostly from the SNA, were killed in ongoing clashes between the SNA and the PKK/YPG in Manbij, a war monitor said last week. The violence killed 23 fighters and one member of the YPG-affiliated “Manbij Military Council,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said that they may launch a military operation against the PKK/YPG unless they accepted Ankara’s ultimatum to them for a bloodless transition in post-Assad Syria.
“We will do what’s necessary,” Fidan told broadcaster CNN Türk. Asked what that might entail, he said: “A military operation.”
Assad’s ouster raised the prospect of Türkiye intervening directly in the country against the PKK/YPG, which was behind a string of terror attacks targeting Turkish cities and civilians in recent years.
Fidan said the YPG/PKK should expel terrorists among them who joined from Türkiye, Iran and Iraq and they should leave Syria immediately, adding they have not seen any preparation nor any intention to do so, so far.
The foreign minister also said Türkiye had the capability to take over the management of prisons and detention camps holding Daesh members in Syria if the new leadership was unable to do so. Currently, those camps are under the control of the PKK/YPG. The U.S. justifies its partnership with the YPG/PKK as a cooperation to fight against Daesh.
“Our president gave the instruction that if others cannot do it, Türkiye will keep control (of the camps) with its own soldiers. As Türkiye, we are ready for this,” Fidan said.
New Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya TV on Sunday that the YPG-led forces should be integrated into the national army.
Fidan, who met with al-Sharaa in Damascus last month, said Ankara expected the new leadership to address the YPG/PKK issue. Asked if they were taking the necessary steps: Fidan said: “We need to give it some time,” adding talks between Damascus and the YPG were going on. He said Syria’s new rulers were capable of fighting the YPG, which he accused of buying time. “The administration in Damascus is not made of those who are scared of war. They seized Damascus by fighting,” Fidan said.
Referring to the YPG/PKK, he said: “If you do not want any military operation in the region, neither by us nor by the new administration in Syria, the conditions for this are clear.” “The terrorists coming from international countries must leave Syria, the PKK leadership must leave the country. The remaining cadres must lay down their weapons and join the new system, this is for a bloodless and problem-free transition.”
Asked if Türkiye would still intervene in Syria despite the U.S. support for the YPG/PKK, Fidan said: “We did it in the past in Afrin, in Ras al-Ain and in Tal Abyad,” referring to locations in northern Syria that Türkiye has targeted. He said Türkiye would not hesitate to do it again. “This is what our national security requires. We don’t have any other option.”