Turkey will do “whatever it takes” to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara’s concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday.
Turkey regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, and the European Union.
Hostilities have escalated since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad less than two weeks ago, with Turkey and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on December 9. Assad’s fall has left the Kurdish factions on the back foot as they seek to retain political gains made in the last 13 years.
In an interview with France 24, Fidan said Ankara’s preferred option was for the new administration in Damascus to address the problem in line with Syria’s territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, adding that the YPG should be disbanded immediately.
“If it doesn’t happen, we have to protect our own national security,” he said. When asked if that included military action, Fidan said: “whatever it takes.”
Asked about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi’s comments about the possibility of a negotiated solution with Ankara, Fidan said the group should seek such a settlement with Damascus, as there was “a new reality” there now.
“The new reality, hopefully, they will address these issues, but at the same time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we want. We don’t want to see any form of military threat to ourselves. Not the present one, but also the potential one,” he added.