Turkey’s Fidan visits Syria as Ankara pushes SDF to disarm: What to know
The top Turkish diplomat’s visit to Damascus comes as Ankara ramps up pressure for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to lay down arms.
ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan traveled to Damascus on Thursday as Ankara ramps up pressure against the Pentagon-allied and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to fully integrate into the Syrian army.
Fidan met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as well as his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shibani, who welcomed him at Damascus International Airport, footage from Syrian state-run SANA news agency showed.
In addition to areas of bilateral cooperation between Turkey and Syria, Fidan and Sharaa are expected to discuss Turkey’s national security concerns stemming from northeastern Syria, which is controlled by the SDF, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told a group of reporters on condition of anonymity.
Turkish officials deem the SDF a top national security threat, as its backbone militia group, the People's Protection Units (YPG), is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
