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The YPG terrorist group, seems to be on the same page with the new administration in Damascus about a centralized government despite previous statements refusing to lay down weapons like its parent group PKK.
“We defend the slogan ‘one army, one government, one state,’” the group’s ringleader, Ferhat Abdi Şahin, told Saudi Arabian news channels Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiya in an interview released Tuesday.
“We are all agreed on the unity of Syria,” Şahin claimed, echoing a concern shared by Türkiye, which has been on high alert against the security risks posed by the YPG.
The YPG is the Syrian wing of the PKK, which began disarming itself after decades of violence, as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative launched last year. The group was openly supported by the U.S., which had designated the PKK as a terrorist group years ago. Washington justified the armament of the YPG as part of its anti-Daesh coalition. The YPG took control of parts of northeastern Syria after the civil war broke out in Türkiye’s southern neighbor more than a decade ago. Türkiye launched a cross-border offensive during the civil war to limit the expansion of the YPG and succeeded in confining it to a narrower area.
After the fall of the Assad regime last December, the terrorist group, which is called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) by its main partner, the United States, managed to negotiate a deal with the new administration in Damascus. The deal, which involves integration of the YPG into the new army of the country, is not final and the YPG’s high-ranking leaders, including Şahin, have repeatedly rejected “submission” to Damascus by disarming.
Using the recent Druze unrest that erupted at Israel’s instigation in Suwayda as an excuse, the group also demanded “autonomy” under the guise of “decentralization.” With Israeli encouragement, they sought to build a bridge between the Druze and the YPG.
“The YPG is committed to the March 10 deal, but its implementation will take time. Integrating 100,000 fighters into the Syrian Defense Ministry is a major operation,” Şahin said in an apparent about-face.
He said Damascus has formally demanded the return of government facilities in Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir el-Zour, northern cities the YPG occupies.
“In return, Damascus is prepared to approve our demands for Kurdish language and cultural rights,” Şahin said.
Şahin’s remarks follow Ankara’s warnings to “intervene” if the YPG refuses to comply with the integration agreement and follow the PKK’s example in dissolving itself.
“It’s time to integrate. Türkiye hopes no one attempts to divide Syria because we will intervene,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said last week.
Şahin’s remarks also come after the U.S. has admitted the group is an offshoot of the PKK and that Washington does “not owe the group an autonomous administration within an existing state.”
“The YPG aims to turn the ‘cease-fire’ in northeastern Syria into comprehensive peace,” he said, adding that the YPG was in “constant” contact with both Damascus and Türkiye.
