US should address Türkiye's 'legitimate' concerns about PKK in Syria: Former defense official

WASHINGTON

A former Pentagon official said Thursday that the US should engage in discussions with Türkiye on its legitimate security concern in Syria, particularly related to the PKK, a designated terror organization by Washington and Ankara.

Dana Stroul, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, acknowledged the challenges posed by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK.

"Their concerns are that the SDF has absorbed non-Syrian Kurdish groups like the Turkish Kurdish PKK, which seeks to create a state or an autonomous area on Turkey's border and threaten Turkey. I think that's a legitimate concern," Stroul said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria.

Stroul urged a conversation with Türkiye to address its security needs.

"Ultimately, the future of the SDF is within a unified Syria," she said, while highlighting the leverage the US has on Damascus.

"Because of our relationship with the SDF, the leverage and influence we have, and what our proactive engagement could bring to the table with Damascus, which Damascus wants. We are positioned to play a key facilitator and mediation role.”

Stroul was responding to a question from Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, who asked about Türkiye's role in northeast Syria.

Stroul emphasized that a stable Syria is in the US national security interest. "The United States is safer if Syria is stable and can address threats rising from within its territory without outside intervention," she said.

A stable Syria, she added, promotes greater security across the Middle East and creates more prospects for economic and security cooperation with the US.

She stressed that a Syria that does not destabilize or antagonize its neighbors -- including Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Türkiye -- is also crucial to US national security interests.

The US' support for the YPG/PKK-led SDF in Syria has become the most contentious issue in relations between Washington and Ankara -- two NATO allies.

The US sees the SDF as its primary partner in the fight against ISIS (Daesh) in Syria. The SDF is led by the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK, a designated terror organization in the US and Türkiye. Ankara sees the presence of the PKK/YPG near its border as a direct threat to its national security and has long urged Washington to withdraw support for the YPG.

After the fall of Bashar Assad regime on Dec. 8, Türkiye has repeatedly called on PKK/YPG to dissolve or face a potential military operation.