Syria’s al-Sharaa, Turkey’s Erdogan talk Kurdish fighters, defence pacts
- February 5, 2025
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Syria’s al-Sharaa, Turkey’s Erdogan talk Kurdish fighters, defence pacts
Sub : IR
Sec : Places in news
Context:
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria’s newly appointed interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa held discussions in Ankara, marking a significant diplomatic shift in relations between the two nations.
- This meeting was al-Sharaa’s second international visit since assuming his new position, following a prior meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- The two leaders discussed a potential new defence pact, which could include Turkey establishing additional military bases in Syria.
Details of the Discussion:
- The leaders discussed deepened security ties, particularly concerning Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS).
- Erdogan expressed Turkey’s readiness to support Syria’s fight against terrorism, including groups like ISIL (Daesh) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey views as terrorist organizations.
- The Turkish government has concerns over Syrian Kurdish groups, such as the People’s Defence Unit (YPG), which operates in the northeast of Syria and is a key component of the S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
- Al-Sharaa rejected any form of Kurdish self-rule and called for the SDF to surrender their weapons, reflecting Syria’s desire for territorial unity.
Turkey-Syria tensions:
- The border between the Syria and Turkey is 909 kilometres long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east.
- One of the primary sources of tension between Turkey and Syria is the presence of Kurdish militant groups in Syria. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s, is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.
- The Kurds, an ethnic minority group in Middle East are found in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia, with their largest population residing in Turkey. The Kurds are demanding a separate Kurdish homeland, Kurdistan.
- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia primarily composed of the People’s Defence Units (YPG), became a key ally of the U.S. in the fight against ISIS.
- However, Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK and has raised concerns about their growing power in northern Syria, particularly near Turkey’s southern border.