Erdogan urges end of foreign support for Kurdish fighters in Syria

Turkish president compares Kurdish YPG fighters to ISIL and says neither group has a future in Syria.

Turkiye expects foreign countries to withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in Syria after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, as Germany warns against an escalation in fighting with Kurdish forces.

Speaking to reporters on a flight home from a summit in Egypt, Erdogan said there was no longer any reason for outsiders to back Kurdish fighters with the People’s Protection Units (YPG). His comments were released by his office on Friday.

The YPG is the main force in a United States-backed alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. Turkiye considers the YPG an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has long fought the Turkish state and is designated as a “terrorist” group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.

In his remarks, Erdogan compared YPG fighters to ISIL (ISIS), an armed group also known as Daesh, and said neither group has a future in Syria.

“In the upcoming period, we do not believe that any power will continue to collaborate with terrorist organisations. The heads of terrorist organisations such as Daesh and PKK-YPG will be crushed in the shortest possible time.”