ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said non-Syrian members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) should leave “immediately” as the Kurdish-led force continues integration talks with Damascus.
“We want non-Syrian elements from the SDF, the elements from Iraq and Turkey, to immediately leave,” Fidan said at the Doha Forum.
The SDF is the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava). Turkey considers its backbone, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security. The SDF has been the main ally of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the ground in Syria for a decade.
“All the capacity and units which have been positioned against Turkey’s interests and security should be abolished,” Fidan said.
The SDF is in talks with Damascus about implementing a landmark deal signed in March by SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi and Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to integrate all Rojava’s civil and military institutions into the Syrian state apparatus.
“They have bigger and more technical discussions with Damascus because it is not an easy process to complete an integration of 50,000–60,000 strong armed units into a newly born army,” Fidan said.