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Turkish Official: No Ceasefire Deal between Türkiye and US Backed SDF in Northern Syria

Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand along a street, after opposition forces seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Hasakah, Syria December 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand along a street, after opposition forces seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Hasakah, Syria December 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Turkish Official: No Ceasefire Deal between Türkiye and US Backed SDF in Northern Syria

Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand along a street, after opposition forces seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Hasakah, Syria December 11, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand along a street, after opposition forces seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Hasakah, Syria December 11, 2024. (Reuters)

There is no ceasefire deal between Türkiye and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, contrary to a US announcement on the issue, a Turkish defense ministry official said on Thursday.
Türkiye believes that the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) forces will "liberate" areas occupied by the Kurdish PKK/YPG militia in northern Syria, the official also said.
The SDF is an ally in the US coalition against ISIS militants. It is spearheaded by the YPG, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militant fighters have battled the Turkish state for 40 years.

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Sharaa Denies he Wants to Turn Syria into a Version of Afghanistan

This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
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Sharaa Denies he Wants to Turn Syria into a Version of Afghanistan

This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)
This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on December 17, 2024 shows Ahmed al-Sharaa receiving the director of the Middle East and North Africa department at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in Damascus. (Photo by SANA / AFP)

The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbors or to the West, denying that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.

"Now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted because they were targeted at the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way," he said.

Sharaa led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the opposition alliance, and was previously known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

He said HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organization. It is designated as one by the UN, US, EU and UK.

Sharaa denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan, saying the two countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset.

He also told the BCC that he believed in education for women.

"We've had universities in Idlib for more than eight years," Sharaa said, referring to Syria's northwestern province that has been held by opposition fighters since 2011.

"I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%."