By Asiye Latife Yilmaz
ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye supports the January 18 agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) despite having reservations over certain aspects, just as it supported the March 10 agreement, Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday.
“What we are looking at is the existence of an agreement,” Fidan told Anadolu and TRT.
Fidan said that while Türkiye has specific reservations, it prefers to set them aside and prioritize support for the agreement as a matter of policy.
“It is also extremely important that the decree issued by (Syrian) President (Ahmad) al-Sharaa grants the rights of our Kurdish brothers, who for many years under the Assad era had been deprived of certain rights,” he said.
Fidan stressed that the decree is of critical importance both in guaranteeing cultural rights and in enabling citizens to feel safer and more included in public life.
The minister also said Ankara views the ongoing manipulations by the YPG/SDF terror group regarding released Daesh members with “great concern.”
Syria’s Interior Ministry said Monday that the YPG/SDF group's release of Daesh detainees from al-Shaddadi prison in the northeastern Hasakah province constitutes a “serious security breach” threatening Syrian, regional, and international security. On Tuesday, 81 of the 120 released Daesh detainees were recaptured, according to the ministry.
Fidan added that he recently spoke with US Ambassador Tom Barrack to discuss his impressions from talks in Damascus.
“We underlined that Türkiye will continue to play a constructive role. They acknowledged and appreciated these efforts,” he said.
On Sunday evening, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and an agreement for the full integration of the SDF into state institutions.
Under the deal, the SDF will withdraw its military formations east of the Euphrates River and hand over administrative and security control of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces to the Syrian state.
The agreement also provides for the integration of SDF military and security personnel into the Syrian ministries of defense and interior following individual security vetting, as well as the transfer of border crossings, oil and gas fields, and civilian institutions to government control.
The announcement followed a military operation launched by the Syrian Army, through which it regained wide areas in eastern and northeastern Syria after repeated violations by the SDF of earlier agreements signed with Damascus nearly a year ago.