Turkish military and diplomatic sources warned on Saturday that the United States will not abandon its plan to form a Kurdish state in areas controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern and northeastern Syria.
They added that the local elections, planned by the Kurdish authorities in those regions, are only a precursor to greater steps to come. The polls are set for August.
The sources said the US wants to establish a Kurdish state in northern Syria and is providing all forms of training related to the establishment of a state and its functioning. It noted that it did the same for Kurdish regions in northern Iraq whereby it trained senior officials on state building in the US.
Türkiye's Sözcü newspaper quoted the sources as saying that Washington boasts around 70,000 mercenaries from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its arm in Syria, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and that it will use them, sooner or later, to form a “terrorist state” on the frontlines along Türkiye's southern border.
The real danger against Türkiye lies in northern Syria, not Iraq, they added.
The US is training and arming the SDF and it pays the wages of its soldiers, continued the sources, describing them as an “American military” in the region pursuing the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in Syria that is loyal to Washington.
Moreover, they warned that the August elections would undermine Syria’s unity and Türkiye's security.
They noted, however, that the US does not want to harm its alliance with Türkiye, but it will also not abandon its plan to form a Kurdish state in Syria.
If Türkiye doesn’t increase its presence in northern Syria, then the problem there will come back again, if not this year, then the next, they remarked.
Türkiye must prevent the formation of a “terrorist corridor” along its border, they urged.
The autonomous Kurdish authority will follow up the elections with other steps that will further its separatist agenda, they stressed.
The elections in Syria must not be held because they will destablize the country and harm efforts to reach a political solution there, they went on to say.
Türkiye has exerted serious diplomatic and security pressure to prevent the elections from being held. They have been postponed for now, but Ankara doesn’t want them held at all, they said.
