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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday that Türkiye does not want to resort to military action again against the SDF but warned that patience is running out among relevant actors over delays in implementing an integration agreement.
The SDF is dominated by the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group.
Speaking in an interview with TRT World, Fidan said Ankara favors dialogue and negotiations but signaled growing frustration over what he described as inaction by the SDF.
“We just hope that things go through dialogue, negotiations and peacefully. We don't want to see any need to resort to military means again. But SDF should understand that the patience of the relevant actors is running out,” Fidan said.
Fidan said Daesh remains a serious threat but can be contained through regional cooperation, stressing that Türkiye and Syria currently maintain “healthy cooperation.”
He warned that delays in integrating the SDF into Syria’s new security structure risk undermining national unity.
“They should come to a place where their commitment to the agreement of the 10th of March should be honored,” Fidan said. “Everybody is expecting from them to honor that agreement without any delay and without any twisting because we don't want to see a deviation from this agreement.”
On March 10, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, reaffirming Syria’s territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.
Fidan said the SDF has not implemented the deal and continues to carry out attacks on Syrian army forces in Aleppo and Raqqa.
Fidan also said Türkiye is pressing for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to begin as violations continue to mount, warning that renewed violence could spread beyond Gaza.
“There are constant violations of ceasefire,” he said, adding that “since the Oct. 10 declaration of the ceasefire, almost 400 Palestinians have been killed.”
He said Türkiye supports moving to the second phase of the deal, which includes plans for an international stabilization force and a governance mechanism for Gaza.
“Over the next couple of weeks, we will see some preliminary clear results of those discussions,” Fidan said.
He said Türkiye is ready to contribute to such a force despite Israeli objections, arguing that Ankara has acted as “the voice of the human conscience, the international conscience in the face of the Israeli atrocities in Palestine.”
Turning to the Russia-Ukraine war, Fidan said Türkiye supports mediation efforts led by the United States and believes the sides are “very close to reach a deal now,” while stressing that any agreement must have public legitimacy in Ukraine.
He also reiterated that maritime security in the Black Sea remains critical, warning that escalating attacks could trigger wider regional instability.
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