US understands Türkiye's concerns about PKK threat in Syria: State Department

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The State Department reiterated Tuesday that the US understands Türkiye's "legitimate concerns" about the threat posed by the PKK terror organization in northeast Syria.

"We understand the very legitimate concerns that Turkey has about the terrorist threat that the PKK poses. We understand the very legitimate concerns that Turkey has about the presence of foreign fighters inside Syria, and so we're talking to them (Türkiye​​​​​​​) about those concerns and trying to find a path forward," spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference.

He said the US wants to see the "establishment of a Syrian national government that encompasses all of the various ethnic groups inside Syria."

"And at the end of that, you don't have any subnational militias, any subnational groups who are carrying arms under their own banner. And as part of that, we certainly think it's appropriate to discuss the expulsion of foreign fighters," he added.

The US repeatedly said it would maintain support for the YPG/PKK-led SDF, its primary Syrian partner in the fight against the Daesh/ISIS terror group, adding that the Biden administration wants to maintain the focus on the anti-Daesh/ISIS fight.

US support for the SDF has significantly strained relations between Washington and Ankara.

Regarding a question about what the new administration should look like in Syria following the takeover of a new transitional government that ousted the Bashar Assad regime, Miller said: "That is a decision for the Syrian people to make".

"What we believe is Syrian people decide the type of government, and the Constitution, a framework that represents their aspirations, that represents the kind of normal compromises in a give and take that happen in civil society," said the spokesman.

Miller said the new Constitution should be inclusive, transparent and accountable.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had ruled Syria since 1963.