Turkey claims Kurdish forces in Syria are coordinating with Israel amid rising regional tensions

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday claimed that the American-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are actively cooperating with Israel. 

"The SDF is running some of its operations in coordination with Israel, (and this) is actually a major obstacle to ongoing negotiations with Damascus," Fidan said. Turkey has developed close ties with the new Syrian al-Sharaa regime. Meanwhile, Israel seeks to protect its borders against anti-Israel jihadists in Syria. 

An unnamed source with the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed that a high-level Turkish delegation was scheduled to travel to Syria to discuss bilateral relations and a potential agreement for integrating the Kurdish SDF into the new Syrian regime’s forces. The delegation would reportedly include Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and the head of Turkey's MIT intelligence agency, Ibrahim Kalin. The top meeting takes place approximately one year after the fall of Syria's Assad regime. 

The Turkish government views the SDF as a terrorist organization and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Furthermore, Ankara has accused it of procrastinating on the implementation of a deal with the end of 2025 set as the deadline. The unnamed Turkish source stressed that a deal "closely concerned Turkey's national security priorities." 

The SDF currently controls a large territory in northeastern Syria and remains suspicious of Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Kurdish-led force currently commands some 50,000 troops. The Syrian regime has reportedly proposed to integrate the SDF into three main divisions and smaller brigades. The major sticking point is that the SDF seeks independence while the Syrian regime demands that the Kurdish force cedes some chains of command to other Syrian regime military units. 

Turkey claims that the SDF threatens both Turkish security and the unity of the fragile Syrian state. 

Turkey and Israel used to have close diplomatic and military ties. However, bilateral relations between Ankara and Jerusalem have deteriorated sharply during the long reign of the current Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Turkish leader, who has close relations with the terrorist organization Hamas, has refused to condemn the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. Erdoğan has instead demonized Israel and equated its military operations against Hamas as “genocide.”

Hamas’ charter openly calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews. 

In March 2024, Erdoğan affirmed Turkey's support for Hamas and compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the late Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. 

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have condemned Erdoğan for spreading antisemitic propaganda. The Turkish president has also refused to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, while Netanyahu has accused him of committing genocide against the Kurdish people and imprisoning dissident journalists.

Meanwhile, Israel, Greece and Cyprus are strengthening their ties amid continued Turkish threats against all three countries. The leaders of the three countries met in Jerusalem on Monday, where they affirmed friendship and cooperation in “security, defense and military matters.”

“The Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean are being tested by aggression, terrorism and instability,” Netanyahu stated. He stressed that the three countries “were conquered in the past by a succession of empires,” most recently by the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

“To those who fantasize they can reestablish their empires and their dominion over our lands, I say: 'Forget it. It's not going to happen. Don’t even think about it.' We are committed and able to defend ourselves and our cooperation further enhances that capability,” Netanyahu vowed in a barely veiled warning to Turkey.