From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Syrian Kurds commander says he is in direct contact with Turkey, open to meeting Erdogan
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BEIRUT, Lebanon — The commander of Kurdish forces that control northeast Syria says that his group is in direct contact with Turkey and that he would be open to improving ties, including by meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
The public comments represent a significant diplomatic overture by Mazloum Abdi, whose Syrian Democratic Forces fought Turkish troops and Ankara-backed Syrian rebels during Syria’s 14-year civil war.
Turkey has said the main Kurdish group at the core of the SDF is indistinguishable from the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which decided earlier this month to disband after 40 years of conflict with Turkey.
Abdi tells regional broadcaster Shams TV in an interview that his group was in touch with Turkey, without saying how long the communication channels had been open.
“We have direct ties, direct channels of communication with Turkey, as well as through mediators, and we hope that these ties are developed,” Abdi says. There is no immediate comment from Turkey on Abdi’s remarks.
He notes his forces and Turkish fighters “fought long wars against each other,” but that a temporary truce had brought a halt to those clashes for the last two months. Abdi says he hoped the truce could become permanent.
The Times of Israel Community.