Turkey: The army will continue operations on the Syrian border until the Kurds “lay down their arms”

The Turkish military will continue preparations on the Turkish-Syrian border until Kurdish fighters in northern Syria “lay down their arms,” a spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Defense said today. There are no talks on a ceasefire agreement between Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, contrary to Washington‘s announcement, he added.

The Turkish official was responding, with the above statement, to the announcement by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller that the ceasefire between Turkey and the SDF in the northern Syrian city of Manbij was extended until the end of the week.

“Regarding Turkey, there is no possibility of having talks with any terrorist organization. The announcement must have been the product of a language slip,” he said.

“The threat against our borders (…) remains. Our preparations and measures in our fight against terrorism will continue until the PKK/YPG terrorist organization lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria.”Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman Zeki Akturk, told reporters, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara insists on claiming is a wing of the PKK.

The SDF are allies of the US-led coalition against Islamic State. The spearhead of the SDF is the YPG. Paris recently announced that the political transition in Syria requires ensuring that the SDF is represented.

According to Ankara, PKK, SDF and YPG are terrorist organizations. The US and its allies do not consider the SDF and YPG to be terrorist organizations.

The PKK is an armed group considered terrorist by Ankara and some of its Western allies. It has been waging an armed struggle since 1984 against the Turkish state, which seeks to expel Kurdish fighters from Turkish territory and its borders.

According to observers, Ankara, along with pro-Turkish militias, is threatening to launch an attack on Kobani, a town near the Turkish-Syrian border controlled by Kurdish forces.

However, the Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman said Turkey believes that the Syrian National Army forces will liberate the YPG-controlled areas of Syria, implying that no Ankara military operation is imminent in those territories.

Between 2016-2019, NATO member Turkey conducted three large-scale military operations in northern Syria against the YPG.

Turkey, which has held swathes of Syrian territory since those ground operations, has deployed a force of 16,000 to 18,000 troops there, said Omar Çelik, a spokesman for President Tajip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party.

The Kurds’ answer

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dominated by Syrian Kurdish forces, have vowed to fight Turkey and its backed forces in Kobani in northern Syria, after Ankara warned that the Turkish military would continue preparations on the Turkish-Syrian border until Kurdish fighters in northern Syria “lay down their arms”.

The SDF accused Ankara of opposing international efforts to achieve a ceasefire. “The Turkish occupation and its mercenaries did not abide by this decision and continue their attacks on the southern front of Kobani city,” the SDF said in a statement, vowing to continue fighting and urging people in Kobani to bring weapons.

Yesterday, 21 militants belonging to forces friendly to Turkey were killed in an attack on a Kurdish controlled location in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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