Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated on Wednesday that Kurdish militants in Syria will both lay down their weapons or “be buried,” amid hostilities between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and the militants for the reason that fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad’s departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia should disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future. The change in Syria’s management has left the nation’s predominant Kurdish factions on the again foot.
“The separatist murderers will both bid farewell to their weapons, or they are going to be buried in Syrian lands together with their weapons,” Erdogan instructed lawmakers from his ruling AK Occasion in parliament. “We’ll eradicate the terrorist group that’s attempting to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings,” he added.
Turkey views the Kurdish YPG militia – the principle element of the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Employees Occasion (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency in opposition to the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly referred to as on its NATO ally Washington and others to cease supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Turkey’s protection ministry stated the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview final week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the primary time, saying they’d helped battle Islamic State and would return house if a complete ceasefire was agreed with Turkey, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan additionally stated Turkey would quickly open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara anticipated a rise in site visitors at its borders in the summertime of subsequent 12 months, as a few of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian migrants it hosts start returning. [Reuters]
