Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed demands by Syrian Kurdish groups for Syria to adopt a decentralized system of government, saying these were \u201cnothing more than a dream\u201d and had no place in the neighboring country, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n
Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast, agreed at a meeting on Saturday on a common political vision for the country\u2019s Kurdish minority. The call for a decentralized structure was rejected by Syria\u2019s new leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue of a federal structure is nothing more than a raw dream. It has no place in the reality of Syria. I advise (Kurds) not to dream of a federal structure or make decisions that will threaten the region, but rather take steps that will serve the stability of the region,\u201d Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not allow any forced structure right beyond our borders other than a unified Syria,\u201d he said in reference to the 911km border Turkey and Syria share, according to a text of his comments published by his office on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The US-backed SDF is viewed as a terrorist organization by Turkey. The group signed a deal with Damascus in March on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.<\/p>\n
Ankara, seen as the closest ally to Damascus, has welcomed the deal but said its implementation must ensure the disbandment of the YPG militia that spearheads the SDF.<\/p>\n
Erdogan also said recent attacks by Israel inside Syria were unacceptable provocations meant to harm the positive atmosphere there after the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in December.<\/p>\n
He said he would meet US President Donald Trump face-to-face \u201cat the first opportunity,\u201d adding that he believed they \u201cunderstand each other\u201d regarding policies in Syria.<\/p>\n
“On issues we think differently, our search for a compromise on a reasonable basis will surely continue,\u201d he said, praising their previous contacts as \u201csincere, fruitful and friendly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed demands by Syrian Kurdish groups for Syria to adopt a decentralized system of government, saying these were \u201cnothing more than a dream\u201d and had no place in the neighboring country, Reuters reports. Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast, agreed at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n