Turkish FM Vows to Defeat US-backed SDF in Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated on 10 January that Turkiye is determined to defeat the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria in 2025, as heavy fighting between the SDF and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) continues near the Tishreen Dam in north Syria.

“At the point, we have reached today, the end of the road is in sight for the separatist organization and its extensions in Syria,” Fidan stated at a press conference for foreign and domestic media on Friday.

“We need permanent peace, solidarity, and cooperation more than ever. The spirit of the times now necessitates solidarity, development, good use of regional resources, and cooperation,” Fidan added.

The SDF, which is viewed as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), occupies northeast Syria alongside the US military. Syria’s largest oil fields and grain-producing regions remain outside the control of the interim Syrian government, led by the US, Turkish, and Israeli-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

HTS, led by former Al-Qaeda chief in Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa (previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani), took control of Damascus on 8 December, ousting former president Bashar al-Assad, who has been granted asylum in Russia.

The US, Israel, Turkiye, and Arab States began supporting HTS, formerly known as the Nusra Front, in 2011 in an effort to topple Assad’s government. In 2014, the US and its allies also backed ISIS as it conquered large swathes of eastern Syria and western Iraq, including the city of Mosul.

“As someone who has been working intensively on Syria for the last 13 years, we are all naturally pleased to see this result. I can say that our story on Syria is just beginning. At this stage, the Syrian people are facing various major challenges, especially the reconstruction of the country,” Fidan stated while referencing his support for HTS as head of Turkish intelligence.

Fidan stressed that Turkiye wishes to stabilize Syria and maintain its territorial integrity. HTS has demanded that the SDF, led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), hand over its weapons and allow northeast Syria to come under the interim Syrian government’s control.

Fighting continues between the US-backed SDF and Turkish-backed SNA at the Tishreen Dam on the Euphrates River. The dam, which provides electricity and water to northern Syria, has become a flash point along with the nearby city of Manbij ever since the fall of Assad’s government.

On 8 January, Kurdish protestors drove in a convoy towards the dam to protest Turkish airstrikes.

AP reported a day later that “Turkish drones and warplanes remained in the air during the protest, and airstrikes targeted areas near the march route, according to participants and a war monitor.”

The health administration in the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani (Ain al-Arab) said the strikes killed five civilians and injured 15 others, AP noted.

In response, Turkiye said the SDF was using civilians as “human shields” by encouraging them to come to the area of the fighting.