Türkiye vows to fight the SDF with or without coordination with the Syrian army

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Türkiye confirmed the continuation of military operations and confronting the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) in eastern Syria, whether in cooperation with the Syrian army or not.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Monday that his country would continue operations in Syria when the time was right.

“When the time comes, we will complete our mission in Syria, which has remained unfinished because of promises made by our allies that they didn’t keep,” Erdogan said.

He added that Türkiye wouldn’t feel safe as long as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was present in Iraq and Syria.

Türkiye considers the SDF to be part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is classified as a terrorist organization.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed during an interview with Arabic Al Arabiya channel the continuation of the SDF fight.

Fidan explained that the presence of the PKK terrorist organization on the other side of the Syrian border is unacceptable to Türkiye, adding, “We cannot retreat from the fight against terrorism, and we will continue to fight it”.

If they can coordinate with Damascus in these efforts, it would be good, but Türkiye is ready to continue operations independently, he said.

The Turkish foreign minister expressed Ankara’s readiness to negotiate with the Syrian government, noting that Türkiye’s position hasn’t changed, and that it hopes to establish a political system in Syria.

The process of building dialogue between Türkiye and Syria began in late 2022, when the defense ministers of the two countries met in Moscow under Russian auspices, but stopped at the point of drafting the roadmap due to disagreements on the issue of withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria.

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