Turkiye won't halt Syria military activity until Kurd fighters 'disarm'

Turkish military prepares for potential assault on Kurdish-held Syrian town amid ongoing clashes with SDF forces.

Ankara will push ahead with its military preparations until Kurdish fighters "disarm", a defence ministry source said Thursday (December 19, 2024), stressing Turkiye faces an ongoing threat along its border with northern Syria.

The comments came as concerns grew over a possible Turkish assault on the Kurdish-held Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Manbij.

Turkiye has thousands of troops in northern Syria and also backs a proxy force there which has engaged in ongoing clashes with the SDF, a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force that Ankara sees as an extension of its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The threat posed by the terrorist organisation to our borders and our operation areas in Syria continues," the source said.

"Until the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation disarms and its foreign fighters leave Syria, our preparations and measures will continue within the scope of the fight against terrorism."

Turkiye accuses the YPG (the People's Protection Units) — which makes up the bulk of the SDF — of being affiliated with the PKK which both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.

Since 2016, Ankara has carried out several major operations against the SDF.