Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday that Kurdish militants in Syria will either “be buried” or lay down their weapons. Fighting between the militants and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters has been ongoing since Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow this month.
Ankara has repeatedly demanded that the Kurdish YPG militia disband since Assad’s exit, claiming the group has no place in Syria’s future. The major Kurdish factions in Syria are now at a disadvantage due to the country’s recent leadership change.
Erdogan informed members of his ruling AK Party in parliament that “the separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons.”
“We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings,” he stated.
The main member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish YPG militia, is seen by Turkey as a continuation of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has been fighting against the Turkish government since 1984.
The European Union, the United States, and Turkey have all classified the PKK as a terrorist organization. Ankara has repeatedly urged Washington, a NATO ally, and others to cease aiding the YPG.
Turkey’s defense ministry earlier reported that Turkish forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in Iraq and northern Syria.
For the first time, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the existence of PKK fighters in Syria in a Reuters interview last week. He said the fighters had aided in the fight against Islamic State and would return home if Turkey agreed to a complete ceasefire, which is a key demand from Ankara.
He denied having any affiliations with the PKK.
As some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts start to return, Erdogan also stated that Turkey would soon open its consulate in Aleppo and that Ankara anticipated a spike in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year.
