On December 28, 2024, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the importance of collaboration with the new authorities in Syria to ensure stability and facilitate an orderly transition.
Fidan emphasized that Turkey will not permit the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, which Ankara views as an extension of the PKK, to maintain its current territorial control in northwest Syria.
Fighting continues in northern Syria between Turkey-backed militias and the YPG, which has received support from Washington in the past against the Islamic State. Uncertainty surrounds the future of this support following the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
In 2019, Trump signed an executive order threatening sanctions against Turkey if it persisted in its offensive against the YPG, but he recently expressed that the US should avoid involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Kurdish media, including Iraqi outlet Rudaw, reported that YPG military leader Ferhat Abdi Sahin, also known as Mazlum Abdi, has been invited to Trump’s inauguration, though there has been no official confirmation of this gesture from Washington.