Egypt's foreign minister meets with two senior YPG members
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry attends the Arab Foreign Ministers' extraordinary meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 12, 2019. (Reuters Photo)


Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Saturday met with two senior members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) terror group.

Co-chairs of the so-called Syrian Democratic Council, Riyad Derrar and Ilham Ahmed, visited Cairo upon invitation from the government of President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi. The SDC is the political wing of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Shoukry reportedly said Egypt attaches great importance to the territorial integrity of Syria and is on the same terms with all elements in the country.

The talks were held shortly before the Arab League foreign ministers' summit on Syria, which was called by Egypt after Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo soured after Egypt's first and only democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown in a military coup led by el-Sissi.

The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aims to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians return in the area east of the Euphrates River controlled by the SDF, which is dominated by YPG terrorists, Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.

Since 2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home.