Prime Minister Turkiye welcomed recent developments in Syria, where the new government achieved a rapid victory against PKK/YPG terrorists in a surprise offensive, a move that Ankara sees as strengthening the neighboring country’s territorial integrity and enhancing regional security.
The Turkish government has long viewed the YPG, which controls the so-called SDF based in northern Syria, as a threat. The Turkish government was fighting to crush the PKK. The PKK’s decades-long terrorist campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives not only in Turkey but also in Iraq and Syria.
The collapse of the YPG marks a major step toward Ankara’s regional goals, just months after Turkiye’s PKK agreed to lay down its arms.
The YPG, which once received military support from the United States in the name of fighting Daesh in Syria, lost most of its territory in northern Syria in just two weeks in an offensive launched by President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The YPG’s subsequent insistence on decentralization and autonomy for the northern territories it occupied forced it to disband its tens of thousands of troops and accept an agreement to integrate them with the Syrian government forces as individuals, rather than as a bloc, after months of failed negotiations to integrate them into the new Syrian Army.
The SDF was established 10 years ago with US support as a coalition of militias to fight Daesh. Its backbone was made up of YPG terrorists, a local branch of the PKK.
Al-Sharaa took power after Assad’s overthrow in December 2024 and has strengthened central power while dealing with challenges from pro-Assad remnants and some former rebels who want to maintain autonomy from the state. Mr. Turkiye has been a major supporter of Syria’s new government, providing political and military support to strengthen the central administration and territorial unity.
The US government refused to intervene on behalf of the YPG, shifting its support to the emerging government and focusing on brokering a ceasefire.
“The fact that the PKK-linked SDF has virtually lost its influence and territorial hold is certainly a very positive outcome for Turkiye,” said Sinan Jürgen, director of the Istanbul-based EDAM research center. “The expansion of the capacity of the new Syrian government is also a positive outcome.”
However, Jürgen warned that the Syrian government’s recent gains could prove temporary if al-Shara fails to stabilize northeast Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Syrian government in remarks to ruling party lawmakers on Wednesday.
“From the beginning, President Turkiye has strongly defended the existence of a single Syrian state,” he said. “We have repeatedly declared that we do not agree with any separatist structures along our southern border that threaten our security.”
Turkish security officials say Turkiye not only benefited from these developments, but also played a supportive role, advising the Syrian government during the operation that led to the withdrawal of YPG forces from Aleppo.
Turkiye’s intelligence services remain in contact with the Syrian government to prevent harm to civilians and the safe evacuation of YPG members and their families, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Turkiye also maintained contact with the United States, the United Nations Coalition Against Daesh and other regional countries during the attack, Turkiye said.
Also key to the Syrian government’s success was the United States’ willingness to see its former ally dismantled. Experts say the YPG was counting on support from the U.S. government when it rejected a previous deal proposed by al-Shara.
Jürgen said Erdogan’s warm personal ties with US President Donald Trump likely helped persuade the US president. But he added that the U.S. policy shift is based on the White House’s assessment that “the interlocutor in Syria should be the new government, not non-state actors.”
This development took place despite tensions between Turkiye and Israel over Syria.
Some YPG representatives have openly called for Israeli intervention in recent clashes, citing Israel’s past support for the Druze community during violence in Syria’s southern Suweida province, but Israel has also chosen to stand by.
Jurgen said a key turning point was the recent meeting between Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris, where Syria effectively recognized Israel’s sphere of influence along its southern border.
Ozgür Unluhisarcukli, a Turkiye expert at the German Marshall Fund, also said Syria and Israel reached a “tacit agreement” on the YPG during the Paris meeting, but added that US support for the Syrian government played a key role.
Turkish officials now hope that the YPG’s integration into the Syrian government structure will help advance the Terror-Free Turkiye Initiative, which aims to end PKK terrorism.
In May, the PKK announced it would disarm and disband as part of the plan, following a call from its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq in the summer and then announced it would withdraw its remaining fighters from Turkiye to Iraq.
But the YPG has rejected pressure to follow suit, insisting that Öcalan’s call applies only to the PKK.
