Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish fighters in Syria on Wednesday to either lay down their arms or “be buried.” The same day, the Turkish military said it killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq – including members of the People’s Defense Units (YPG), the main Syrian Kurdish group allied with the United States against Islamic State. There was an army.
Erdogan and other Turkish officials have insisted for years that the YPG is affiliated with, or merely an offshoot of, the violent separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). PKK is banned in Türkiye classified As a terrorist organization by many other countries, including the United States.
However, most other countries consider the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia to be a separate entity from the PKK. The YPG plays a leadership role in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which was instrumental in the fight against ISIS and remains a US ally.
Erdogan Repeated Comments by members of its ruling AKP party on Wednesday echo Türkiye’s view that the YPG and the PKK are one and the same.
“Separatist killers will either say goodbye to their weapons, or they will be buried with their weapons on Syrian soil,” he said.
“We will destroy the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish brothers and sisters,” he said, trying to draw a distinction between the YPG militia and civilian Kurds, whom Turkey claims. That they don’t have any problems.
Last week, the SDF acknowledged for the first time that PKK fighters were in Syria and were allies against the Islamic State, although the SDF insisted it had no operational ties to the PKK.
SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi told Reuters said last week that Kurdish fighters had come to Syria from the Middle East to defend Kurdish lands against Islamic State, including members of the PKK. He said that while many PKK fighters returned home after the fall of ISIS, some “decided to stay and help us.”
Abdi said he agreed with Turkey’s demand that non-Syrian Kurdish fighters leave Syria, but that this would not be possible until “there is a complete ceasefire between us and Turkish forces and their affiliated factions.”
“On the other hand, if there is an attack, we are preparing ourselves to repel it,” Abdi said.
The major attack described by Abdi has not yet happened, but on Wednesday the Turkish Defense Ministry said Said 21 Kurdish militants, including both PKK and YPG members, were killed by Turkish forces in northern Syria. A Kurdish fighter was also killed in Iraq.
“Our campaign will continue effectively and resolutely,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
Some of Türkiye’s allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are growing uneasy with Erdogan’s war against the Kurds. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday caution Türkiye’s weakening of Syrian Kurdish forces could benefit a revived ISIS.
“If conflict with the Kurds benefited Islamic State terrorists, it would not help anyone. This would pose a security threat to Syria, Türkiye and Europe,” Baerbock said.
writing on tHe hill On Thursday, Georgetown University assistant professor David L. Phillips emphasis on this Now is the time for the United States to stand up for our Kurdish allies in Syria.
Phillips wrote:
Defeating ISIS is still a work in progress; Kurds are guarding thousands of ISIS prisoners in northeastern Syria. If they redeploy to counter a Turkish invasion, the SDF will have a clear choice: either protect their families from a Turkish-backed invasion or protect ISIS captives. Protecting their homes and families will be the priority.
In fact, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has an answer to that argument. Insisted Last weekend that the rebel government in Syria is fully capable of running ISIS prison camps.
Phillips said the Kurds have provided an “island of stability amid the chaos” by providing a constituent administration in northeastern Syria during the civil war and warned that if the U.S. abandons an effective ally that largely follows the American If he does, he will have to “pay a reputational price”. Model for anti-extremism government.
“Who will join the US-led counterterrorism efforts if we abandon the Kurds now?” He was amazed.
“Moral clarity is needed at this dangerous moment. The Kurds are America’s allies and friends with whom we share strategic interests and values. The Kurds are a force for good in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. “To safeguard American interests and reputation, Washington must stop Türkiye’s aggression,” he urged.
The moribund Biden administration has said little on the issue of the Syrian Kurds, but there is a bipartisan bill in the Senate to impose sanctions against Turkey if it launches a major campaign against the SDF.
