Syria
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan pictured on August 31, 2023. File photo: Maxim Shemetov/AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s foreign minister will visit Syria soon for discussions on rebuilding the country after the collapse of the Assad regime, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists on Friday on his return flight from Egypt.
"Our Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan will be visiting there soon. Together, they will build the new structure,” he said.
He added that they will work on lifting embargoes and restrictions imposed by the international community on Syria during the regime of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, saying this will help the country recover.
In late November, the rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning-quick offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs before capturing the capital Damascus as Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule in less than two weeks and bringing the country’s 13-year-long civil war to an end.
The HTS-led rebels have formed a transitional government headed by Mohammed al-Bashir and are expected to remain in power until March 2025.
Erdogan noted that mass graves have been discovered in Syria and that the extent of the oppression and torture carried out by the previous regime is yet to be fully revealed, and said Ankara will do its best to hold the Assad regime accountable for its crimes.
During the civil war, Kurds were able to take control of the northeast, known as Rojava, while confronting the Islamic State (ISIS). They lost some areas to Turkey and its allied Syrian militias in 2018 and 2019. In December, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from Tal Rifaat and Manbij after Ankara and its allied militias launched attacks against them while the HTS were toppling the regime.
Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, as the Syrian front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - designated as a terrorist group by Ankara. The SDF is a partner of the United States-led global coalition against ISIS.
Erdogan renewed his threats against the Kurdish forces.
"They are doomed to remain in isolation, as it is today, as it has been in the past. They will not have a tomorrow. It is the end of the road for the terrorist organization," he said, adding "We do not think that any power will maintain its engagement with terrorist organizations. The heads of terrorist organizations such as DAESH [Islamic State] and PKK-YPG will be crushed as soon as possible."
US Republican Senator John Kennedy called on Erdogan to leave the Kurds alone during remarks he made on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
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