Turkey categorically repudiated US assertions of a ceasefire agreement between the Turkish government and Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and announced that their military actions continue in that region. It comes after Matthew Miller spoke for the Department of State in Washington, suggesting that a ceasefire agreement had been brokered by Washington to extend to the weekend between Turkish-backed rebels and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) around the city of Manbij.
A senior Turkish defense official dismissed such claims as a “slip of the tongue,” reiterating that Turkey would never deal with the SDF, which it regards as a “terrorist” group for their close connections with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), which has been waging an insurgency in Turkey for more than thirty years.
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Thus, Turkey made it clear that it would never stop military operations in the region unless the PKK and its affiliates like YPG disarmed and left Syria.
“The fight against terrorism will continue until the PKK/YPG disarms and its foreign fighters leave Syria,” the said official stated. Both PKK and YPG are considered terrorist groups by Turkey; however, the US and other Western allies only classify PKK under this category.
Turkey’s stand comes up in the face of heightened tensions building over possible military strikes aimed at Kurdish-held territory in Syria, mainly the border town of Kobane.
Recently, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan rejected comments by US President-Elect Donald Trump, who called the Syrian conflict an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey. Fidan described such statements as a “serious mistake” and added that Turkey’s involvement was focused on ensuring national security.
As the condition in Syria continues to develop, Turkey has claimed that it is up to the new Syrian administration to clean its territory of foreign fighters, specifically PKK members in YPG. If the new Syrian leadership does not take action, Turkey has indicated a possibility of further action.