JERUSALEM – Hours after meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the fight against Islamic State in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister says Turkey's goal is to eliminate the main Kurdish forces in Syria. and sent a shocking message to Washington. We worked with the US to defeat ISIS.
According to Turkish mediaForeign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a live broadcast on Nippon Television, “The elimination of the YPG is [Turkey’s] “It is a strategic goal,” he said, adding that Kurds in the country must be protected.
Asked about Fidan's comments, the State Department referred Fox News Digital to comments made after a meeting between Blinken and Fidan in Turkey early Friday.
“Secretary Blinken emphasized the importance of cooperation between the United States and Turkey in the global coalition to defeat ISIS in Syria,” the statement read in part.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad exiles as Islamic rebels conquer country
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, Turkey, on December 13, 2024. (Getty Images)
The United States has a long-standing military alliance with Syria's Kurdish military group, the People's Protection Units (YPG)., In Syria. The YPG is part of a broader organization known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played a key role in dismantling Islamic State in Syria.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking advantage of the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime to gobble up territory held by pro-U.S. Syrian Kurds and cash in on hard-won gains against the Islamic State terrorist movement. You're putting yourself at risk.
President Erdoğan's operation to purge the SDF in northern Syria is creating a dangerous security situation in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), according to the SDF's top commander, General Mazloum Abdi.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Mazlum told Fox News' Jennifer Griffin: “We remain under constant attack from the Turkish military and the Turkish-backed rebel group known as the SNA. There are 80 drone attacks a day. This situation is paralyzing our counterterrorism operations.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses participants at a rally in solidarity with the Palestinians in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 28. (AP/Emra Gurel)
Islamic State prisoners held in SDF-run camps may escape as pro-Turkish forces launch a military offensive against the SDF. The SDF has directed much of its forces and resources to blunt the Turkish-backed offensive military offensive.
In 2022, FOX News Digital reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's planned invasion of northern Syria could open the floodgates for the liberation of Iraqis. A large number of 10,000 Islamic State fighters.
The United States on Wednesday brokered a ceasefire between the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA), the Syrian Opposition Army (TSO), and the SDF.
Syrian Kurdish security forces wait for the release of a former detainee suspected of being a member of the Islamic State in the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh, September 2, 2024. (Derill Soleimani/AFP via Getty Images)
Experts say the collapse of Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime is a strategic blow to Iran and Russia
The United States has about 900 troops stationed in northeastern Syria, working with the SDF to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State following a new Turkish offensive against Syria's Kurds.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.) warned the Turks in the , I have drafted a proposal for sanctions targeting Turkey. I am ready for it.” This too in a bipartisan manner.
“Kurdish forces, which helped annihilate ISIS under President Trump's watch, should not be allowed to be exposed to the threat of Islamic extremists who have occupied Turkey and Syria.”
Fox News Digital attempted to contact various Turkish officials, including embassy spokespeople in Washington and Tel Aviv and the United Nations mission in New York.
Turkish diplomats previously told Fox News Digital that the Kurdish forces PKK and YPG “have repeatedly pointed out the threat to national security posed by the PKK/YPG terrorist networks in Syria and Iraq.” PKK is the abbreviation for Kurdistan Workers' Party, an organization classified as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Displaced Kurds leave a refugee camp in northern Aleppo and seek refuge in Afrin on December 4, 2024. (Ugur Yildirim/DIA Images/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP Images)
Efrat Aviv, a professor at the Department of General History at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and a leading expert on Turkey, told Fox News Digital that “Turkey's actions in Syria further complicate the situation and make it difficult to reach a comprehensive solution.'' “This is hindering international efforts to bring about progress.” The withdrawal of Turkish forces from the region and an end to the conflict with the Kurds could improve regional stability and contribute to efforts to end ISIS terrorism.
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“Turkey’s military actions in Syria endanger regional stability and undermine efforts to end ISIS terrorism. Turkey’s attacks not only harm the Kurds but also worsen the humanitarian situation in the region. , causing large-scale population movements.”
Turkish-born political analyst Uzay Bulut told Fox News Digital: “Erdogan's imperial ambitions in Syria have not changed. Land grabbing and demographic change have always been Turkey's plan in Syria. Turkey. “'s military operations against Syria have brought nothing but instability to Syria.” Severe persecution of local and ethnic minorities.
“To prevent further abuses, genocide, and forced displacement of Christians, Kurds, and Yazidis, and to stop the spread of jihadism in the region, the Trump administration is engaging diplomatically to protect the religious and ethnic minorities in Syria. sect, especially defenseless Christians.”
On December 3, 2024, a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the national flag hang inside a trash can at the entrance to the Kwailis military airfield in eastern Aleppo province after rebels took over the area. There is. (Rami Al Said/AFP via Getty Images)
Syria's Christian population could fall to 2.5% from 10% before the civil war began in 2011. Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities face persecution from the extremist Sunni Islamic terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its extremists. Allies.
“The ongoing jihadist attacks against Kurds and Christians in Syria are being led by HTS, an offshoot of al-Qaeda,” Bulut said. “HTS forces are backed by the Turkish government and have been brutalizing and displacing religious minority communities in Idlib since 2017. HTS aims to establish Islamic rule in Syria.”
The Trump transition team did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital reporters.
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Asked by Fox News Digital if the United States was considering sanctions against Turkey, a State Department spokesperson said, “Generally speaking, we are not considering sanctions in advance.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkey's secretary of state during a visit to the region on Friday and discussed the latest developments in the region.
A reading of the meeting read: “I urge all parties in Syria to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Syrians, including ethnic minorities, and to prevent Syria from being used as a terrorist base.'' “I asked for it again,” it says in part.
