Türkiye's determination to disarm and disband the PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG has not changed, an official said Tuesday, as the Syrian government announced a groundbreaking deal with the U.S.-backed SDF.
The deal has not changed Türkiye's position and Ankara maintains its demand for the YPG terrorists, which spearheads the SDF, to disband and disarm, the unidentified official told Reuters.
The official also said Ankara is "cautiously optimistic" about the agreement and wanted first to see how it would be implemented.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has reached an agreement with the terrorist PKK's Syrian offshoot YPG-dominated SDF, which includes a cease-fire and merging the forces with the Syrian army. The deal was signed by al-Sharaa and Ferhat Abdi Şahin code-named "Mazloum Kobani," the wanted ringleader of the SDF, the Syrian Presidency announced Monday.
It marks a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government led by the group that led the ousting of dictator Bashar Assad in December. The SDF, a U.S.-backed armed wing of the YPG, currently controls one-third of Syria's territory, including most of the country's oil and gas fields. The YPG uses the name SDF to give itself an air of legitimacy.
The group, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK terror group, had refused to join the new Syrian Defense Ministry following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria.
The deal to be implemented by the end of the year would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye in the northeast, airports and oil fields under the control of the central government.
Syria's Kurds will gain their rights, including teaching and using their language, which were banned for decades under Assad.
