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Türkiye Says It Killed 23 Kurdish Militants in Syria

Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, in a picture taken from the Turkish side of the border where the Turkish flag is seen near Akçakale, Oct. 10, 2019. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, in a picture taken from the Turkish side of the border where the Turkish flag is seen near Akçakale, Oct. 10, 2019. (AFP)
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Türkiye Says It Killed 23 Kurdish Militants in Syria

Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, in a picture taken from the Turkish side of the border where the Turkish flag is seen near Akçakale, Oct. 10, 2019. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, in a picture taken from the Turkish side of the border where the Turkish flag is seen near Akçakale, Oct. 10, 2019. (AFP)

Türkiye said on Sunday it had killed 23 Kurdish militants in northern Syria, the latest in a series of strikes against them which have continued since US President Donald Trump took office last month.

The defense ministry said the militants belonged to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

Türkiye regards the PKK and YPG to be identical, while the United States views them as separate groups, having banned the PKK as terrorists but recruited the YPG as its main allies in Syria in the campaign against Islamic State.

Türkiye has long called on Washington to withdraw support for the YPG, expressing hope that Trump would revise the policy of the previous administration of President Joe Biden.

Turkish forces and their allies in Syria have repeatedly fought with Kurdish militants there since the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in December.

Türkiye has said that the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF - a US-backed umbrella group that includes the YPG - must disarm or face military intervention.

Under the Biden administration the United States has had 2,000 troops in Syria fighting alongside the SDF and YPG.

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Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, has signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday.

The deal, which included a complete cessation of hostilities, was signed by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF's commander, Mazloum Abdi.

Under the deal, whose text was posted online by the presidency, all civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria will be integrated within the state, which will thus take over control of borders, airports and oil and gas fields.

The SDF agrees to support the government in combating remnants of deposed president Bashar al-Assad's regime, and any threats to Syria's security and unity.

Since Assad was overthrown by Sharaa's Islamist forces in December, groups backed by Türkiye, one of Sharaa's main supporters, have clashed with the SDF, the main ally in a US coalition against ISIS militants in Syria.

The SDF is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Türkiye regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups, and Sharaa's new Damascus administration had been pressing the SDF to merge into newly-minted state security forces.

Abdi had previously expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defense ministry, but said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals, an idea that was rejected by the new government.

The US and Türkiye’s Western allies list the PKK as a terrorist group, but not the YPG or the SDF.