President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated Türkiye's demand that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria must keep its promises regarding a deal with Syria's government and integrate into the country's state apparatus.
In comments to reporters on a flight back from Azerbaijan that were shared by his office on Wednesday, Erdogan said Türkiye's "patient, prudent, dignified" stance should not be considered as a weakness.
Later, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that the SDF must abandon its "separatist agenda", a day after the group's leader and Syria's government announced a ceasefire.
At a press conference in Ankara alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Fidan said the Syrian leadership could now fight ISIS on its own in the country, meaning foreign states must change their approach on the matter.
Syria's defense minister and SDF's commander said on Tuesday they had agreed a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts in northern and northeastern Syria.
The new leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa inked a deal in March with the US-backed SDF, which controls much of the country’s northeast.
Under the agreement, the SDF was to merge its forces with the new Syrian army, but implementation has stalled.
Sharaa's office said in a statement that the interim president had met with US envoy Tom Barrack and discussed implementation of the agreement with the SDF "in a manner that safeguards Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" and other "ways to support the political process" and to "enhance security and stability."
Damascus seeks to consolidate control over all of Syria, while the SDF wants to maintain the de facto autonomy of northeast Syria from the central state. Syria held a parliamentary election Sunday in most areas of Syria, but voting was not held in SDF-controlled areas.
