United Nations, Dec 17 (EFE).- Turkey warned the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that it would continue to take “preventive measures” on its border with Syria against Kurdish groups present in the Arab country.
“Turkey will continue to take preventive measures to protect its borders and prevent these groups from exploiting the situation on the ground,” said Ambassador Ahmet Yildiz at a Council session specifically dedicated to the situation in Syria.
Yildiz warned that the transition “cannot include actors such as the PKK, the YPG and the SDF,” the main Kurdish groups.
The secular, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition is the main ally in a United States-led alliance against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria. The main group within the SDF is the People’s Defense Units (YPG) militia, a group Ankara sees as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union.
The YPG and SDF have demanded a role in the new Syria, where they already de facto administer some regions in the country’s northeast, despite tensions with Arab rebel groups.
“Syria must not become a haven for terrorist groups that exploit the transition period to further their agendas, and in particular the PKK, YPG, the so-called SDF, and its affiliates remain a grave threat, not only to Syria’s unity and security but also to Turkey’s national security and the broader region,” the ambassador said.
Meanwhile, the United States announced on Tuesday that it had secured an extension of the ceasefire between Turkey and the SDF around the northern town of Manbij until the end of the week.
“We do not believe it is in the interest of any party to see increased conflict in Syria. We don’t want to see any party take advantage of the current unstable situation to advance their own narrow interests at the expense of the broader Syrian national interest,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
A U.S.-brokered cease-fire between the SDF and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels to withdraw from Manbij in northern Syria was reached on Dec. 11, but it had expired.
“We understand the very legitimate concerns that Turkey has about the presence of foreign fighters inside Syria, and so we’re talking to them about those concerns and trying to find a path forward,” Miller stressed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the SDF accused Turkey of being an “occupation state” that had “been attacking our regions in north and eastern Syria for years” and said its “ultimate goal” was to “occupy all of Syrian territory and annex it to Turkey” after pro-Turkish factions seized Manbij and attempted to take over the town of Kobani.
“We’re speaking with our Turkish counterparts and others in the region as it relates to the challenges associated with ISIS, as well as the SDF and the continued important role they play in preventing a resurgence of ISIS,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said at another press briefing on Tuesday.
He added that “the SDF remains an important partner” for the United States in the fight against the jihadist group and that “it’s important to remember what Daesh or ISIS is capable of, as we’ve seen in the past, and we all have a vested interest in ensuring that they cannot resurge.”
The Kurds are an ethnic group of approximately 30 to 45 million people indigenous to the mountainous regions of West Asia that encompass southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria.
After World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the Western Allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, but this never materialized, and the Kurds were instead divided among several countries. EFE
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