Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with representatives from media organizations in Ankara. Fidan discussed the details of Turkey’s visit to Syria. He also mentioned the Russia-Ukraine War and the phone call between President Erdogan and US President Trump, while addressing questions about the visa issues in the EU.

During the meeting, Fidan conveyed important messages on key topics in foreign policy. The messages from the meeting were reported by NTV Ankara Representative Ahmet Ergen. The most prominent topic we highlighted during our visit to Syria was the YPG issue. We raised all our priorities and concerns regarding the organization in the context of the agreement with the new administration of the SDG. We clearly articulated our perspective on the organization’s intentions, capabilities, and control of energy resources. Based on our years of experience in counterterrorism and our knowledge of the PKK, we emphasized issues that could be of concern. We saw that the Syrian government shares our intentions and perspectives. YPG, as it stands, is an integral part of the PKK. It is unnecessary even to discuss it. We discussed issues in Damascus such as how the organization will take steps within the framework of the agreement and what its timeline will be. We underscored that the destruction of the organization’s military capabilities is an essential concern for us. Certain aspects come to the forefront to ensure this. One of them is the issue of command and control. It is crucial that existing elements disband themselves and come under the control of the central government. In addition, having critical abilities such as the production of weapons, missiles, and air defense systems is unacceptable. Another issue is external individuals joining the YPG. There is no place for them. Existing elements need to dissolve, lay down their arms, disband themselves, and come under the complete control of the central government. This is a necessity. The central government must be sufficiently competent to assume command and control. We will closely monitor all these developments in the upcoming period. Caution is necessary in the process, and control should not be relinquished. We will closely follow the short term ahead. Kurds living in Syria need to be granted the rights that were not given during the Assad era. It is crucial to treat everyone as equal citizens. The Syrian government is also very sensitive about this issue. The return of displaced Syrians to their homeland is one of the priority issues they are working on. Armed groups