Türkiye on Monday rejected the treatment of terrorist groups in Syria as "legitimate actors" and urged the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity and political unity.

Addressing a U.N. Security Council meeting on the political process and the humanitarian situation in Syria, Ahmet Yıldız, Türkiye's envoy to the U.N. described the humanitarian situation in the country as "catastrophic" and "worsening."

"16.7 million people in Syria, which is more than 70% of the population, need humanitarian assistance, and a quarter of them live in the northwest of the country," Yıldız said. "As Türkiye, we will continue to facilitate the delivery of cross-border humanitarian assistance in close cooperation with the U.N., as we have done so far."

According to Yıldız, the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity and political unity is of "paramount importance" for the future of the country and the region.

"Having said that the PKK, the YPG and the so-called SDF try to advance a separatist agenda in Syria through all possible means, in contravention of the Security Council Resolution 2254," he said, referring to attempts by the PKK/YPG to carry out so-called local elections in northeast Syria.

"The international community must collectively oppose any separatist attempt in Syria, including these so-called elections," Yıldız stressed.

"Also, the terrorist organizations must not be treated as if they were a legitimate actor, as they commit grave human rights violations against local people in northeast Syria and deliberately impede the delivery of military aid to the north of the country."

The residents of northern Syria suffer from the occupation of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian branch, the YPG, which took advantage of the power vacuum created by the civil war and seized one-third of Syria under the guise of fighting against Daesh with the support of the U.S. since 2015. It also controls the region’s oil wells – Syria’s largest – and smuggles oil to the Syrian regime despite U.S. sanctions, to generate revenue for its activities.

U.S. forces in Syria regularly train PKK/YPG terrorists in their military bases in the region. Türkiye, which has troops inside Syria and Turkish-backed opposition groups in Syria's northwest, routinely clashes with the PKK/YPG, which seeks to establish a terror corridor along the country's border.

Ankara, which took some steps for possible normalization with Damascus last year, has also repeatedly called on its NATO ally to cut off support to the PKK's Syrian wing YPG, something heavily weighing on bilateral relations.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and its bloody insurgency encompassing Türkiye and Iraq has left over 40,000 people dead, including women and children.

Ankara believes the PKK, which is also designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and the EU, aims to achieve an "autonomous" status first in Syria through the YPG before moving to the next stage of its plan to have an independent state, which officials consider a threat to Turkish national security and Syrian territorial integrity.

The terrorist group, which always promoted itself as a "political party," plans to hold a local "election" in the coming months in a region controlled by the YPG in a bid to cultivate international support.

The PKK/YPG has postponed the elections to August 2024 after warnings from Türkiye and its ally the U.S. but Ankara wants them canceled altogether.

Yıldız reiterated that a Syrian-led political process can only be achieved with the participation of the Syrian people.

"This requires creating conditions in Syria for voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Syrian refugees," he said, highlighting the importance of preventing further displacement in the country.

"Therefore, in accordance with the relevant memoranda, Türkiye will continue its efforts to ensure that the cease-fire is observed in the Idlib de-escalation area," he added.

Türkiye is home to at least 3.6 million Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in 2012, most of whom are under temporary protection status.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is rumored to be planning a meeting with Syrian leader Bashar Assad soon in Moscow for a possible normalization of bilateral ties, advocates for the dignified, voluntary return of Syrians.

He recently said 670,000 have returned so far to towns in Syria’s opposition-held regions, which is facilitated by Türkiye and Qatar's joint safe zone efforts.