PKK would leave Syria if Kurdish forces keep leadership role, official says

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(Reuters) – An official with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Thursday the militant group would agree to leave northeastern Syria if the U.S.-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) maintains a significant joint leadership role there.

“Any initiative resulting in the governance of northeastern Syria under the control of the SDF, or in which they have a significant role in joint leadership, will lead us to agree to leave the region,” the official at the group’s political office in northern Iraq said.

The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and Europe. It has fought a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

After the ousting of president Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus last month, Ankara has threatened to crush the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which is a part of the SDF that it says is an extension of the PKK.

Ankara has said the SDF must be disbanded and all senior PKK members ousted from Syria or it will strike, prompting negotiations over the future of the SDF, which is the main U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State in northeastern Syria.

Washington has called for a “managed transition” for its Kurdish allies and the SDF commander has said any PKK members would leave Syria if Turkey agrees a ceasefire.

In a written statement, the PKK official said that if the group leaves Syria it would continue monitoring from afar and will act against Turkish forces or moves as needed.

“The future of Syria will be determined after the 20th of this month, once Trump assumes power,” the official said, referring to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

(Editing by Toby Chopra)