Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a firm warning on Tuesday that Syria’s future, under its new Islamist leadership, would have no place for what Ankara considers “terrorist organisations,” particularly Kurdish groups. Erdogan’s comments came during a meeting in Ankara with Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdish region.
Erdogan highlighted Turkey’s ongoing efforts to prevent the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from escalating instability in the region. He specifically pointed to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey accuses of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group engaged in a long-running insurgency in Turkey. Ankara and its allies consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
The Turkish military has frequently targeted YPG fighters in Syria, accusing them of being aligned with the PKK. Erdogan’s government is intent on ensuring that Kurdish forces, whom it sees as a security threat, have no role in Syria’s future governance. Additionally, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan echoed this stance, claiming the “elimination” of the PKK and YPG forces is imminent.
While the United States supported the YPG in the fight against ISIS, Turkey warns that the West should not use the Islamic State threat as an excuse to empower the PKK.
