Kurdish militia in Syria will be “buried” if they do not drop arms – Erdogan
Erdogan has said that Kurdish militants in Syria will face death if they do not cease fighting, as conflict has unraveled between Turkey-backed fighters and other militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan’s warning comes almost a day after Washington urged against a Turkish attack on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), stating that any attack would lead to security gaps, enabling the Islamic State (IS) to return, according to Middle East Online via Reuters.
The SDF is the primary ally in a US coalition against Islamic state militants. It is led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara defines as an expansion of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey, the US and the European Union regard the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
Erdogan said on December 25th, Kurdish fighters in Syria must lay down their arms or they will be “buried in Syrian territory with their weapons”, Erdogan reportedly said to lawmakers from his governing Justice and Development (AK) Party in parliament.
READ: Erdogan urges Turkic unity over Palestinian issue
Erdogan added: “We will eliminate the terrorist organisation that is trying to build a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish brothers.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously discussed in Ankara the subject of Kurdish militants in Syria but did not come to a decision with Ankara to disarm these military groups.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi denied any organisational links to the PKK in an interview with Reuters on December 19th, Middle East Online via Reuters reports.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan said the country will do “whatever it takes” to maintain its security if Syria’s new government cannot address Turkey’s concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups it regards as terrorists, Levantis reported on December 22nd via Reuters.
Middle East Online, Reuters
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