Türkiye urges YPG to integrate with Syria, stop acting as 'Israel's tool'

ANKARA

Türkiye has strongly urged the YPG to stop using delay tactics and integrate with the national Syrian army, while accusing the terror group of acting as an Israeli instrument to destabilize the country.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın hosted their counterparts in Ankara on Aug. 13 to discuss recent clashes between the YPG and Syrian government forces near Aleppo in the past few days.

Fidan and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani held a joint press conference after the talks. The two men came together last on Aug. 9 in Damascus.

The increase in bilateral diplomatic traffic is mainly due to the spark of clashes between the YPG and the Syrian army in some parts of the country, mainly around Aleppo.

The YPG, also known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is not showing willingness to implement a deal with Syria that stipulates its integration with the new national army. Türkiye and Syria blame Israel for the YPG’s prolongation of the process.

Fidan said some countries, particularly Israel, are exerting efforts to derail the positive trend of normalization and resurrection of Syria, stressing that last month’s incidents in Sweida province aimed to destabilize the country.

“There are actions conducted to turn the positive developments into negative ones. One of the biggest actors of this dark picture is Israel,” Fidan stated, accusing this country of trying to include Syria in its expansionist policies.

He also called on the YPG not to be used as the "instrument of Israel" in Syria.

All the countries should give support to the new administration’s efforts to build a new country where all ethnic and religious groups will be granted equal rights, Fidan underlined, stressing that the YPG should also act to this end.

“At this point, we see some developments that we can no longer tolerate. We see that YPG members coming from Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Europe have not yet left Syria,” the minister said. The YPG is failing to inject trust and continues to pose a threat, he underlined.

“To the contrary, we see that they are trying the processes in Damascus and Ankara to prolong the existence of their organization and maximize their interests in case of a new crisis. They should not think that we are unaware of this," he said.

“We may not be comfortable here in case the security demands of Türkiye are not met,” he added, calling on the YPG to take actions in a way that will not pose threat to Türkiye and to the territorial integrity of Syria.

For his part, Shibani also accused Israel of trying to destabilize Syria through support to Druze and other groups, referring to last month’s violence in the Syrian province of Sweida.

“Sweida is important for Syria’s history. Druze are part of our Syrian nation and there is no intention to exclude them,” he said.

Israeli actions against Syria’s unity are posing danger to the security of the Syrian people, especially at a time when the country is facing challenges, the minister suggested, saying that there are countries who wish to see Syria fragmented.