Sporadic clashes linger in Syria’s north as a group of local Arab tribes fights the oppression of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the YPG, which seized territory with the support of the United States in the war-torn country.

The unprecedented act, which is actually a culmination of grievances of the tribes against the hegemony of the terrorist group, is lauded by Türkiye. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters that what was happening in Syria was a "reclamation of territory" by Arab tribes acting in unity. "They are the true owners of those lands," Erdoğan said in an interview while returning from a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "Mr. Putin agrees that it is an important struggle," the president said.

Erdoğan said that the U.S. support for the terrorist group in the form of weapons and munitions did not serve the peace in the region. "Every piece of weapon given to the terrorist group fuels bloodshed in the region and disrupts the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq," he said.

Clashes continued on Monday between Arab tribes and the terrorist group in the eastern Syria province of Deir ez-Zor. Operations launched by Arab tribes against the PKK/YPG that started last week expanded with the participation of other Arab tribes.

Erdoğan reiterated that the PKK and YPG are terrorist organizations. "The attitude of the tribes against the PKK and YPG by coming together is a struggle of honor," he added, stressing the terrorist group is dangerous for the people of the region.

Operations launched by Arab tribes against the PKK/YPG in the eastern Syria province of Deir ez-Zor that started last week expanded with the participation of other Arab tribes. Since Aug. 27, a total of 33 villages have been liberated from YPG/PKK occupation in the rural areas of the Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Hasakah provinces and the Manbij district of Aleppo.

"Countries that support these organizations must see that the terrorist group PKK/YPG does not recognize the right to live for the people of the region through its terrorist activities," Erdoğan said. Ankara is constantly informing the U.S. and Russia about the PKK/YPG’s terrorist activities that threaten Türkiye, he added. "There is no massacre or terrorist activity that this terrorist organization would not do to control the oil in Deir ez-Zor. We have made the necessary warnings to the addressee countries in this regard."

"It was seen that the ammunition and weapons aid provided by the U.S. to this terrorist organization did not serve the peace of the region. Every weapon given to the terrorist organization serves to continue the bloodshed in the region and to disrupt the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria," Erdogan said.

As the terrorist group faces mounting resistance from Arab tribes who have been displaced by the PKK/YPG, it is gradually retreating from the villages it had previously occupied. Since Aug. 27, a total of 33 villages have been liberated from PKK/YPG occupation in the rural areas of the Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hasakah provinces and the Manbij district of Aleppo. The withdrawn PKK/YPG terrorists are resorting to nighttime attacks in an attempt to inflict casualties on the Arab tribes. The majority of the population in Deir ez-Zor, which the terrorist group occupied under the pretext of fighting Daesh with the support of the U.S. military, is Arabic. The terrorist group is also forcibly recruiting Arabs and children in the regions it occupies, as documented by reports by the U.N. and human rights groups. The terrorists generate income by selling the oil they obtained by seizing oil wells in the region to Damascus through smugglers despite U.S. sanctions. While the terrorist group uses this income for its own purposes, the people of the region are deprived of local services and much-needed aid.

Normalization with Syria

The president also spoke about Türkiye’s normalization process with the Assad regime, saying Bashar Assad "unfortunately" avoided taking concrete steps. "He watches steps taken in the quadrilateral format from afar," he said, referring to the process carried out with the support of Russia and Iran.

"He somehow does not take an active part. We launched these efforts with the hope that they would be more open, but we still don’t see any positive stance from Syria. We hope they will (change this stance) as the process continues," he said.

He said that normalization was possible if there was progress in the fight against terrorism, on the safe and voluntary return of refugees, and on the political process. He said that Türkiye always said that the process should be without conditions on the part of the Assad regime. "The Syrian regime has to act in line with the facts on the ground and avoid approaches that may harm the process."

"Without eliminating terrorism threatening our borders and citizens, without eliminating risks to populations' mobility, we will not change our approach that prioritizes our own security. Türkiye always supports the territorial integrity of its neighbors. Since the civil war began in Syria, we reiterated the fact that terrorist groups stationed (in Syria) are the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity. We will continue our fight against terrorist groups threatening our country to the last member of those groups. We are in northern Syria to clear out the region and our country from those threats," he said, referring to a string of Turkish military operations that helped the Syrian opposition liberate areas occupied by Daesh and PKK/YPG.