Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan chairs a Cabinet meeting, Ankara, Turkey on June 2, 2025. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Presidency under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to hold a government cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss the integration of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into Syria's new security apparatus, and several other domestic and regional matters, according to Turkish media.
"Following the meeting, President Erdogan will address the nation," according to AHABER, a Turkish media outlet close to Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The meeting comes amid growing concerns by Ankara that the SDF's "failure" to integrate the Syrian defense forces poses "a threat" to Turkey's national security.
"The SDF terrorist organization's failure to fulfill its commitments to disarmament and integration into the Syrian state poses a threat to Syria's unity and integrity as well as our national security," Zeki Akturk, Turkey's defense minister said in a press briefing on Thursday.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in March signed an agreement to integrate the Kurdish region in northeast Syria (referred to as Rojava by Kurds) - including its de facto army, the SDF - into the transitional government. However, fears among Kurds have risen following mass killings of Druze and Alawites earlier this year, with many fearing they could be the next target. These massacres were partially attributed to Damascus-affiliated forces.
"As Turkey, our sensitivities on this matter are clear. It has been repeatedly stated that we will not allow the SDF terrorist organization's sabotaging behavior and that we will resolutely continue the fight against terrorism in cooperation with Syria's new administration," the Turkish defense ministry spokesperson added.
His comments come days after several Turkish politicians from the ruling coalition threatened military action against the SDF if the force fails to implement the March 10 deal. In response, pro-Kurdish politicians in Turkey have expressed frustration, highlighting concerns over the escalating tensions.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who initiated the latest peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) a year ago, drew the ire of Kurdish politicians.
Bahceli claimed that the PKK decision to disarm and disband also applies to the SDF - which Ankara considers a Syrian offshoot of the PKK. He claimed that Israel is trying to divide Syria and that the SDF "appears to be within Israel's orbit."
SDF's Abdi warned on Saturday that a fragile ceasefire in place in northeast Syria may not hold "because final deals have yet to be reached."
Bahceli claimed that Abdi's statement "indicates that treacherous intentions and operational ambitions are on the alert."
Pervin Buldan, the main mediator of Ankara-PKK peace talks and a senior member of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), told Jin TV late Tuesday that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has stated that his February call on the PKK to lay down and dissolve itself does not apply to the SDF.
"Syria and Rojava are my red line. That place is special to me," Buldan cited Ocalan as saying during one of his exchanges with mediators.
Turkey has carried out at least three major military campaigns against the SDF since 2016, capturing several Kurdish towns in northern Syria with the help of Syrian militia groups it supports.
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