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Türkiye and Syria will inevitably carry out a joint military operation against the U.S.-backed YPG-dominated SDF if the group fails to abide by its March 10 memorandum with Damascus, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli said Tuesday.
In a written statement, Bahçeli warned that Türkiye will not allow faits accomplis in the region and stressed Ankara’s determination to achieve the goal of a “Terror-Free Türkiye, Terror-Free Region.” He said the YPG/SDF must comply with its commitments or face military intervention backed by both Ankara and Damascus.
“The YPG/SDF’s compliance with the memorandum signed with the Syrian administration on March 10 is essential. Otherwise, everyone should know that a military intervention, with the joint will of Ankara and Damascus, will become inevitable,” Bahçeli said.
He underlined that Türkiye’s policy is clear: safeguarding Syria’s political and territorial integrity while preventing separatist projects, which he described as fueled by the U.S. and Israel. Bahçeli also rejected any federal or autonomy-based models in Syria, calling them “masked division schemes.”
Reaffirming the unbreakable unity of Turks and Kurds, Bahçeli said no community in Syria would fall into the trap of Zionism or separatist plots, stressing that all groups — including Turkmens, Kurds, and Arabs — are Türkiye’s brothers and will resist such attempts together.
Bahçeli’s statements come as tensions run high between the YPG and the new administration in Damascus. Despite a March deal between the two sides, a fresh confrontation erupted in Aleppo. The army of post-Assad Syria intercepted members of the SDF on Sunday while attempting to infiltrate several military positions east of Aleppo city in northern Syria, local media said, using the name of the umbrella group the YPG identifies itself as part of, to earn legitimacy.
On March 10, the Syrian Presidency announced an agreement to integrate the YPG into state institutions, stressing the country’s territorial integrity and rejecting any separatist agenda.
Since the ouster of Bashar Assad last year after 24 years in power, the Syrian government has stepped up security measures. Assad fled to Russia in December, marking the end of the Baath Party’s rule since 1963. A transitional administration, headed by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, took office in January.
With U.S. support under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the YPG seized large swaths of northern and eastern Syria during the civil war, occupying key oil, water and agricultural resources. Turkish cross-border operations have since reduced their grip, but the group remains entrenched in several areas.
Under the March deal, the YPG would merge with the new Syrian national army. The agreement, which is expected to be implemented by the end of the year, would also bring all border crossings with Iraq and Türkiye, as well as airports and oil fields in the northeast, under the central government’s control. Detention centers housing thousands of Daesh members, now guarded by the YPG, would also come under government control.
However, the YPG’s insistence on entering the army as one bloc has stalled the process, and there have been scattered outbreaks of violence. The group has also been making statements calling for autonomy and thus endangering the territorial integrity of Syria.
Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the PKK terrorist group, which recently announced its dissolution and began a disarmament process that will end 40 years of bloodshed in Türkiye. The YPG insists it is not a party to the disarmament.
Türkiye, which developed cordial ties with the transitional government, has pledged to continue supporting Syria’s political unity and territorial integrity, providing training and technical support upon request from Damascus to strengthen its fight against terrorist groups. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed that Türkiye “will not allow terrorists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability.”
Ankara is closely monitoring the integration of the YPG into the Syrian army. Turkish officials have said earlier that this development will be decisive for Syria’s long-term security architecture.
The YPG’s push for decentralization and symbolic changes, such as altering the country’s name, is widely seen by Türkiye as part of a broader effort to entrench separatist control in Syria’s north.
