Turkey’s top diplomat on Thursday urged Syrian Kurdish forces to integrate with the new government in Damascus, warning that Ankara’s “patience is running out” over delays in implementing an agreement reached earlier this year.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — who control large swaths of Syria’s oil-rich northeast — had signed an agreement with the new Syrian authorities in March to merge their civil and military institutions but the deal’s terms were not implemented.
In an interview with TRT World, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned delays in integrating the SDF into the new Syrian security structure threatened national unity.
He said patience among relevant actors “is running out.”
The SDF played a vital role in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Syria, which ultimately led to the jihadist organization’s territorial defeat in the country in 2019.
Fidan said ISIL remained a serious threat but could be contained through regional cooperation, adding that Turkey and Syria have “healthy cooperation now.”
Ankara has supported Syria’s new rulers led by Ahmed al-Sharaa since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Between 2016 and 2019, Turkey launched three offensives in northern Syria against Syrian Kurdish fighters and the ISIL group.
© Agence France-Presse