US does not ‘owe SDF an independent state’ says envoy

NEW YORK

The U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, has described the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as “YPG, a derivative of the PKK,” and made clear that Washington does not support the creation of a separate SDF state or “free Kurdistan” in Syria.

“SDF is YPG. YPG is a derivative of PKK,” Barrack said in response to a question from daily Hürriyet during a press briefing at the Foreign Press Center in New York.

“YPG was a spin-off of PKK that we allied with to fight ISIS,” he said, referring to the ISIL terrorist organization.

“So, there’s a big sentiment that, because they were our partners, we owe them. The question is, what do we owe them? We don’t owe them the ability to have their own independent government within a government,” he said.

“There’s not an indication that there’s going to be a free Kurdistan. There’s not an indication that there’s going to be a separate SDF state. There’s no indication on our part that there’s going to be a separate Alawite state or a separate Jewish state. There’s Syria,” he added.

He said the Syrian government rejects federalism and ruled out the attempts to divide the country along ethnic or sectarian lines as unworkable.

“You can’t have a separate Druze force dressed like Druze, separate Alawite force dressed like Alawites, separate Kurd force dressed like Kurds, and on and on. There’s going to be one entity.”

His remarks came after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi last week held a meeting in Damascus to discuss their March agreement that aims the integration of the YPG-led forces in the country’s northeast to the Syrian state. Barrack also attended the talks in Damascus.

The implementation of the key agreement has stalled as the SDF has demanded a decentralized system of governance, which the new authorities in Damascus have rejected.

"One country, one nation, one military is dictated by that nation, which we're now recognizing. So that's the issue. Forget about whatever the genetics are from where it came. All of these minority groups might lust for a federalistic environment.”

If SDF does not act quickly on integration, it will face problems with the Turkish and Syrian governments, Barrack said.

"The U.S. will do its best to ensure a fair and proper decision is made. If they want to come to America and live with us, they can do so." Barrack said.