PKK would leave Syria if Kurdish forces keep leadership

17/1/2025 6:13

An official with the Kurdistan

Workers Party (PKK) said on Thursday the militant group would

agree to leave northeastern Syria if the U.S.-allied Kurdish

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) maintains a significant joint

leadership role there.



"Any initiative resulting in the governance of northeastern

Syria under the control of the SDF, or in which they have a

significant role in joint leadership, will lead us to agree to

leave the region," the official at the group's political office

in northern Iraq said.



The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the

United States and Europe. It has fought a separatist insurgency

against the Turkish state for 40 years and more than 40,000

people have been killed in the conflict.



After the ousting of president Bashar Al-Assad in

Damascus last month, Ankara has threatened to crush the Syrian

Kurdish YPG militia, which is a part of the SDF that it says is

an extension of the PKK.



Ankara has said the SDF must be disbanded and all senior PKK

members ousted from Syria or it will strike, prompting

negotiations over the future of the SDF, which is the main U.S.

ally in the fight against Islamic State in northeastern Syria.



Washington has called for a "managed transition" for its

Kurdish allies and the SDF commander has said any PKK members

would leave Syria if Turkey agrees a ceasefire.



In a written statement, the PKK official said that if the

group leaves Syria it would continue monitoring from afar and

will act against Turkish forces or moves as needed.



"The future of Syria will be determined after the 20th of

this month, once Trump assumes power," the official said,

referring to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on

Monday.