Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Turkey would conduct a cross-border offensive in northeastern Syria against Kurdish YPG units if the group failed to meet demands.
Turkey considers the People’s Defence Units (YPG), which leads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a terrorist group linked to Kurdish militants engaged in a long-running insurgency against the Turkish state. Earlier, Ankara also asked the US, its NATO ally, to stop supporting the fighters.
Following the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month, Turkey demanded that the YPG disband. Ankara also demanded that non-Syrian YPG fighters and foreign terrorists leave Syria or be repatriated to their countries of origin, with its leaders surrendering to authorities.
Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday that Turkey believed the new Syrian authorities should address the issue of the YPG presence. He also promised that his country would do “whatever is necessary,” including “a military operation,” if the demands were not met.
Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since the fall of Assad last month, claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had ordered Turkish soldiers to take over prison-camps holding Islamic State fighters if the new Syrian leadership was unable to do so.
