No agreement with Syrian regime, only a call to protect border: Kurdish forces spokesperson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A spokesperson for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) on Monday denied reports of a deal with the Syrian government to enter Afrin where a Turkish military incursion is ongoing.

Speaking to Kurdistan 24 during a live broadcast, YPG spokesperson Nouri Mahmoud said the Kurdish forces had not signed an agreement with the Syrian regime to enter Afrin but had only called on the army to protect the borders.

“Our forces have not reached an agreement. We have only called on the Syrian army to defend the borders from Turkey’s assault,” Mahmoud clarified. “There has been no agreement with the Syrian government for the handing over of Afrin.”

“If the Syrian army considers itself responsible for protecting the borders [from Turkey’s offensive] then it must do so today,” the YPG spokesperson added.

On Sunday, a source within the Kurdish forces, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Kurdistan 24 that negotiations with the Syrian government had started several days ago.

Meanwhile, an advisor to the Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria, Badran Jia Kurd, spoke to Reuters over the phone and said Syrian army troops could be deployed “within the next two days.”

Earlier on Monday, Syrian state media claimed that militias allied with the central government would enter the Kurdish enclave of Afrin to help repel Turkey’s military operation in the region.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, whose country launched the incursion last month, has warned Damascus against protecting the Kurdish forces.

“If the regime is entering [Afrin] to protect the YPG, then nobody can stop the Turkish soldier,” he declared.