ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that he advised Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during their meeting in Damascus the previous day to grant the rights of Kurds in exchange for the potential disarmament of Kurdish fighters.
A high-level Turkish delegation comprising Fidan, Turkish defense minister and chief spy, held a meeting with Sharaa in Damascus. Both sides did not reveal what was discussed.
Fidan told Turkish tv100 on Friday that both sides discussed the recent agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus about the future of the SDF and northeast Syria (Rojava).
“What do we expect from the Syrian state? They have to give Kurds all rights. In return, the terror structure must be removed from there and weapons should be handed over to the state,” Fidan said, referring to the SDF.
Ankara sees the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security. PKK and the Turkish army have been involved in a conflict that has claimed the lives of over 40,000 people.
The YPG has denied any organic ties with the PKK.
Turkey has renewed efforts to reach an agreement with the PKK, which seeks the disarmament and disbandment of the group. In return, the PKK seeks broader Kurdish cultural and political rights in Turkey.
“We have always suggested to the new administration that the rights of the Syrian Kurds be granted. Unfortunately, this was not achieved during the [Bashar] al-Assad period. Now there is such a historic opportunity. On the other hand, it is essential that the whole equation involved in unofficial terrorist activities in the region is taken out of the equation, that life returns to normal, and that all influences return to a normal life,” Fidan noted.
Kurds were deprived of cultural and political rights during the Assad era. A large number of Kurds were not issued citizenship cards.
The agreement between the SDF and Damascus stipulates that Kurds are an integral part of Syria but the new administaion has been accused of sidelining Kurds. The recently-approved constitutional declaration kept the name of the country as the “Syrian Arab Republic” and recognizes Arabic as the only official language.
