The chief of the Russian forces in Syria has met with one of the ringleaders of the PKK terrorist organization’s Syrian wing, the YPG, over Türkiye's forthcoming counterterrorism ground operation into northern Syria, a YPG terrorist and an Arab TV station claimed Monday.
Siamand Ali, a YPG terrorist, made claims to The Associated Press (AP) that Lt. Gen. Alexander Chaiko met Sunday with YPG ringleader Ferhat Abdi Şahin (also known as Mazloum Abdi) in northeast Syria, but said he had no details about what they discussed.
Terrorist Şahin is on Turkey’s most wanted terrorist list. Interpol currently has a Red Notice warrant out in Şahin's name for playing a crucial leadership role in the PKK-linked YPG.
He is the adopted son of the terrorist PKK's imprisoned founder Öcalan, who is now serving a life sentence in a Turkish prison.
If true, Chaiko’s trip to the northeast comes days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to order a land operation of northern Syria to eliminate the YPG terrorist group following the Nov. 3, terrorist attack in Istanbul that killed six people and wounded dozens.
Russia has called for de-escalation along the Türkiye-Syria border.
The Lebanon-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV also claimed that Chaiko and Abdi discussed tensions along the northern border and what can be done to avoid a new major operation by Türkiye. The station, which has reporters in different parts of Syria, said Chaiko suggested the deployment of Syrian regime forces along the border with Türkiye up to 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the border.
Although Russia is trying to convince the YPG to withdraw, a member of the terrorist organization, Aram Hanna, told Al-Arabiya TV station Monday that they "reject all demands" and would not withdraw.
Türkiye plans to erect a 30 kilometer-long (18.6-miles) security zone along the southern border, in the face of threats from the YPG/PKK.
Türkiye is ready to rid northern Syria's Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas, near the Turkish border, of terrorist elements in a bid to eliminate the terror threat from the region, the president said on Monday.
Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, which have illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan and sometimes execute attacks on Turkish soil. The country's air operation followed a PKK/YPG terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Street that killed at least six people and left 81 injured.
After the air operation was launched on Nov. 20, Erdoğan had also signaled a ground operation into northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terror threat.
Erdoğan has said as the United States and Russia failed to live up to their commitments to provide such a safe zone in the border region. In October 2019, Russia expressed commitment to removing the terrorist group from Tal Rifaat and Manbij after reaching an agreement with Türkiye during Operation Peace Spring. Moscow also promised that the terrorists would be removed 30 kilometers from the border on the M4 road and in the area outside the Operation Peace Spring area. Likewise, then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pledged to Türkiye that the YPG/PKK terrorist group would withdraw from the region of Operation Peace Spring.
Ankara has launched several cross-border operations into Syria since 2016 and controls some territories in the north with the goal of pushing away the YPG/PKK and establishing a 30-kilometer-deep safe zone. Since 2016, Türkiye has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).