Turkey's Foreign Minister Issues a Call

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has called on the Kurdish "People's Protection Units" (YPG), which form the basis of the "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF), not to abandon the previously reached agreement to integrate into the Syrian armed forces. This was reported by the "Sabah" newspaper on Thursday.

"They must fulfill the terms of the agreement. It's not that we prefer the use of military force, but the patience of the parties is wearing thin," noted Fidan. In his assessment, the YPG is trying to buy time with the aim of breaching the agreement at a more opportune moment, such as during a crisis.

At the same time, Turkey's Foreign Minister expressed hope that dialogue would continue and lead to the full integration of the YPG into the Syrian armed forces. It should be noted that on March 10, an agreement was signed in Damascus between the president of Syria's transitional period, Ahmad al-Shara'a, and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi regarding the integration of all civil and military structures of the Kurdish autonomy operating in northeastern Syria into state institutions. However, as several media outlets have mentioned, no practical steps have been taken since then.