Erdogan says YPG ‘will be buried’ in Syria if it doesn’t lay down arms

Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia indispensable disband and called connected the US to halt supporting it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Kurdish fighters successful Syria volition either laic down their weapons oregon “be buried”, amid hostilities betwixt Turkiye-backed Syrian rebels and different equipped groups since the autumn of erstwhile Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

Following al-Assad’s ouster connected December 8, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia indispensable disband, asserting that the radical has nary spot successful Syria’s future.

The alteration successful Syria’s enactment has near the country’s main Kurdish factions connected the backmost foot.

“The separatist murderers volition either bid farewell to their weapons, oregon they volition beryllium buried successful Syrian lands on with their weapons,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party successful parliament connected Wednesday.

“We volition eradicate the violent organisation that is trying to weave a partition of humor betwixt america and our Kurdish siblings,” helium added.

Turkiye views the YPG militia – the main constituent of the United States-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – arsenic an hold of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia, which has waged a rebellion against the Turkish authorities since 1984.

The PKK is designated a violent organisation by Turkiye, the US and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called connected its NATO state Washington and others to halt supporting the YPG.

Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said this is not a astonishing connection by Erdogan “as it is the authoritative rhetoric of the Turkish government”.

Since the YPG is considered “the Syrian subdivision of the PKK, Ankara believes that they should either laic down arms, oregon they should combat and they volition beryllium defeated,” Koseoglu said.

Earlier, Turkiye’s defence ministry said the equipped forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK fighters successful bluish Syria and Iraq.

SDF commandant Mazloum Abdi acknowledged past week the beingness of PKK fighters successful Syria for the archetypal time, saying they had helped conflict ISIL (also known arsenic ISIS) fighters and would instrumentality location if a full ceasefire was agreed with Turkiye, a halfway request from Ankara.

He denied immoderate organisational ties with the PKK.

Erdogan besides said Turkiye would soon unfastened its consulate successful Aleppo, adding that Ankara expected an summation successful postulation astatine its borders successful the summertime of adjacent twelvemonth arsenic immoderate of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts statesman to instrumentality to their homes.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies