The PKK terrorist group’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, has reportedly asked the Israeli government for help to stay in Syria against the potential withdrawal of its main ally, the U.S. military, according to Israeli state television KAN.
The PKK/YPG is concerned about the possibility that the U.S. may pull out its troops from northeastern Syria, where they have been allied since 2015, and has asked Tel Aviv to persuade Washington against such a move, KAN reported Sunday, citing a PKK/YPG terrorist who asked not to be named.
If Israel provides political support to the PKK/YPG on international platforms and convinces U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s team to continue supporting the “international coalition” in Syria and to stop “threats from Türkiye,” it would be a historic turning in relations between the PKK/YPG and Israel, the PKK/YPG terrorist told KAN.
KAN also said Israel and the PKK/YPG have established a “communication channel” in recent weeks after anti-regime forces overthrew Bashar Assad and ended the 13-year civil war in Syria.
Israel often expresses support for the terrorist PKK/YPG – which uses their entrenched positions in the region to launch terror attacks inside Türkiye – and the YPG has taken up Tel Aviv’s assistance many times, including in 2019 when Ankara mounted a counterterrorism operation.
The Turkish military’s Peace-Spring operation sought to secure the area for the safe return of Syrian refugees and prevent the formation of a terror corridor, but Israel denounced Ankara for it, offered aid to the group and praised the terrorists as “gallant.”
Also in 2019, Washington and Israel had a rare divergence of opinion in foreign policy when then-president Trump briefly floated withdrawing American troops from northern Syria.
The PKK is proscribed as a terrorist group by the European Union, U.S. and Türkiye. It is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths in Türkiye, including women and children. It maintains strongholds in northern Iraq and Syria to create a self-styled “Kurdish state.”
The U.S. has dispatched troops along with military equipment and weapons to Syria’s northeast during the Syrian civil war to help the PKK/YPG under the pretext of the fight against Daesh. Ankara says the YPG/PKK is on par with Daesh and should have no presence in the new Syria.
U.S. troops remain in the region, though the incoming Trump administration is planning to withdraw them, according to unconfirmed reports.
Türkiye also said it expects Trump to heed his NATO ally’s security concerns and pull back U.S. troops from northern Syria.
Two U.S. senators recently threatened Türkiye with new sanctions if it moves against the PKK/YPG, while the terrorist group’s leaders penned a letter to President-elect Trump to stop counterterrorism operations.
Pundits have said Israel aims to protect its own interests through the weakening of its neighboring states. Israel has expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights in the aftermath of Assad’s fall and continuously bombed military targets in Damascus.
Israel’s new foreign minister last month said his country should reach out to YPG/PKK terrorists and other regional groups that are “natural” allies.
Türkiye, which often accuses Israel of supporting the PKK, has seen its relations with Israel sour since last year due to Israel’s war on Gaza, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and global bodies denounce as a genocide.
Ankara suspended trade ties with Israel in May and seeks to rally U.N. action for an international arms embargo on Tel Aviv.
Türkiye says it trusts the new Syrian administration in the fight against PKK/YPG but threatened military action if the terrorist group refuses to disband, with Erdoğan saying the terrorist group either “bury their arms” or themselves would “be buried.”
Similarly, on Sunday, Syria’s de-facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, vowed that his administration would stop the PKK/YPG terrorist group from using Syria as a base for its operations.
Speaking to Saudi Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath television, al-Sharaa laid out his vision for Syria's future, highlighting plans for constitutional reforms and future elections following the ouster of Assad.
Stressing that Kurds are an integral part of Syria, al-Sharaa said his administration would not allow the country to serve as a base for the terrorist PKK/YPG and reiterated that Syria must remain united.
Addressing ongoing negotiations with the terrorist PKK/YPG, he said the new government aims to resolve the crisis in northeastern Syria and ultimately integrate the group into the national forces.
Since anti-regime forces took control of Damascus and toppled the Assad regime, the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has pushed back the PKK/YPG from several towns, including key strongholds Tal Rifaat and Manbij.
But clashes continue between the SNA and the YPG/PKK in Manbij, mostly concentrated around Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River.
