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Defense Minister Yasar Guler on Friday received Tom Barrack, the United States ambassador to Türkiye and Washington’s special envoy for Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
According to a statement shared on the ministry’s X account, Chief of General Staff Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu also attended the meeting.
No further details were provided on the content of the talks.
The meeting came a day after the ministry reiterated that Türkiye does not view Syria’s security as separate from its own and would support Damascus’ fight against terrorist organizations if requested, in line with the principle of “one state, one army.”
“We would like to reiterate that we do not view Syria’s security as separate from our own, and that, in line with the principle of ‘one state, one army,’ we will provide support upon request to Syria’s fight against terrorist organizations on the basis of the country’s unity and territorial integrity,” the ministry said at its weekly briefing.
The ministry said the Syrian government had successfully carried out a counterterrorism operation in Aleppo aimed at restoring public order and ensuring civilian safety, stressing that the operation respected Syria’s unity and the principle of equality among all ethnic groups.
Last week, the ministry said an operation conducted in Aleppo against the SDF was carried out entirely by the Syrian army, adding that Türkiye was closely monitoring developments.
“Syria’s security is our security,” the ministry said at the time.
The SDF is dominated by the terrorist group YPG, which Türkiye considers the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK.
The statements coincided with inspections along the Syrian border by Metin Tokel, amid preparations by the Syrian army for a possible operation against YPG/SDF elements.
In a post on the ministry’s X account, it said Tokel inspected the 6th Corps Command main command post in Cildir Obasi, Kilis, and the Soylu Base Area in Karkamis, Gaziantep.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army warned Thursday that it would target YPG/SDF positions obstructing civilian movement from eastern Aleppo.
In a statement carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency, the army’s operations command said groups affiliated with the YPG and allied with the SDF were blocking civilians from passing through a humanitarian corridor near Deir Hafir.
The army said it extended the opening of the corridor for an additional day on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, to allow civilians to leave safely, warning that any SDF site obstructing civilian passage would be targeted.
Syrian civilians who managed to flee the area told Anadolu that SDF forces were preventing tens of thousands of people from leaving Deir Hafir, attempting to use civilians as human shields.
Alikhbariah TV reported that civilians began leaving via secondary routes after SDF forces blocked access to the Hamimeh crossing designated by the army.
Since last week, SDF shelling of residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities and Syrian army positions in Aleppo has killed 24 people, wounded nearly 130 others and displaced around 165,000 residents from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud districts, according to official figures.
In March 2025, the Syrian presidency announced an agreement for the SDF’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming Syria’s territorial unity and rejecting attempts at division.
A separate agreement signed in April covering the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods required the withdrawal of SDF forces to areas east of the Euphrates and restricted weapons to internal security forces. Syrian authorities say the SDF has failed to comply.
The Syrian government has intensified efforts to restore security nationwide since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, ending his 24-year rule.
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