Türkiye won’t allow new chaos in Syria: Fidan

ANKARA

Türkiye won’t allow new chaos in Syria as instability and insecurity in this country has negative impacts for the entire region, the Turkish foreign minister has said, noting uncertainty over the YPG’s integration with the Syrian army and Israel’s continued expansionist policies as two major challenges for Syria and beyond.

“It is not possible for us to tolerate Syria’s becoming a theater of chaos again,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a conference on the first anniversary of Syria’s Liberation Day in Ankara on Dec. 10.

Describing Dec. 8, 2024, as the turning point in Syrian history, giving hope for the future of the Syrian people, Fidan said there are also challenges that can disrupt the process, citing them as uncertainty over the YPG’s integration with the Syrian army.

“The YPG should realize that there can be no two armed entities in one country,” Fidan said, stressing that the problem should be resolved in a peaceful manner in line with the March 10 agreement.

The agreement Fidan referred to was made between Damascus administration and the YPG for the integration of the latter with the new Syrian army by the end of this year. The YPG still controls eastern Syria as well as rich oil reserves in the southern parts of the country.

“In our most recent meeting with [Syrian] Foreign Minister Assad Shaibani in the margins of the Doha Forum, he told me that there is no progress [regarding the implementation of the agreement]. We, as Türkiye, always tell that these talks should proceed and the problem should be resolved in a peaceful way and that sparking a new conflict will not benefit to anyone,” he said.

Dialogue between the two sides is important but the YPG should see that continued attempts to divide the country will open new wounds and produce new security problems.

“The unity of Syria is in the interest of all groups in Syria including Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze... We are also against the domination of a single group over all others. That would be a new version of the previous administration,” Fidan suggested.

“It is possible to build a prosperous society where everyone can feel equal and free. New modern approaches to nation-states require this. Türkiye is doing this so are Europeans. Many countries in the world apply this. So it can be done in Syria as well,” he said.

HH Israel biggest source of instability

The second big problem to the stability of Syria and the region is Israel’s policies to generate chaos and instability in its own neighborhood, particularly in Syria.

“The biggest problem is that Israel sees Syria as a central point in its expansionist policies,” Fidan said, stressing that this country’s military and political interventions create a big risk for the region.

The government in Tel Aviv is trying to spread the conflict in Gaza to the region and by doing so is hoping to generate security for Israel, Fidan said.

“We are in talks with the U.S. on this,” the minister said, calling on Israel to abandon its disruptive policies and accept to live in peace and security with its neighboring countries.