Syria
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaking at the Doha Forum on December 6, 2025. Photo: Murat Gok/AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday said non-Syrian members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) should leave “immediately” as the Kurdish-led force continues integration talks with Damascus.
“We want non-Syrian elements from the SDF, the elements from Iraq and Turkey, to immediately leave,” Fidan said at the Doha Forum.
The SDF is the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava). Turkey considers its backbone, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to its national security. The SDF has been the main ally of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on the ground in Syria for a decade.
“All the capacity and units which have been positioned against Turkey’s interests and security should be abolished,” Fidan said.
The SDF is in talks with Damascus about implementing a landmark deal signed in March by SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi and Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to integrate all Rojava’s civil and military institutions into the Syrian state apparatus.
“They have bigger and more technical discussions with Damascus because it is not an easy process to complete an integration of 50,000–60,000 strong armed units into a newly born army,” Fidan said.
Talks have progressed slowly as the two sides differ on fundamental issues. The SDF has pushed for integrating its forces as a unified bloc, while Damascus favors absorbing fighters individually and dispersing them across regular army units.
Sinam Mohamad, Washington representative of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the SDF’s political arm, told Rudaw in mid-November that small units of the Kurdish-led security forces will remain in place and “will not dissolve.”
Fidan said the process “should be conducted in good faith” and that both Damascus and the SDF should “look for a common perspective.”
“We need a genuine engagement from both sides,” he added.
Turkish officials claim that Ankara’s peace talks with the PKK also includes the YPG, but the YPG and Kurdish mediators deny this. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has reportedly said he has a different plan for Rojava.
Fidan said that Ocalan “can play a role” on the Syria issue.
Sharaa also attended the Doha Forum and signalled his respect for Syria’s Kurdish population, saying to Rudaw on the sidelines of the event, “The Kurds are in our eyes. God willing, we will integrate.”
Sangar Abdulrahman contributed to this report.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment