As Trump praises Erdogan, Turkey says ready to take control of ISIS prisons in Syria

ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey was ready to take control of the camps that host detainees of the Islamic State members and affiliates of the group as he reiterated his country’s demand that Washington axe its alliance with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. 

Roughly a dozen ISIS prisons in northern Syria are located in areas controlled by the US-allied SDF, which Ankara deems a top national security threat, equating it with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants fighting for self-rule inside Turkey since 1984. While the PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, the SDF remains the top ally of Washington in the fight against ISIS in Syria. 

Fidan argued that the SDF's contribution to the war against ISIS was limited to managing the prisons where members of the Salafi jihadist group and their affiliates are held.

“In fact, our president has also given the instruction that if others cannot handle [the prisons], we will control them with our soldiers. We are ready to do this as Turkey,” Fidan told CNN Turk television in an exclusive interview Tuesday evening.

Fidan added that he and Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler were working on the issue under instructions from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Turkey controls large swaths of territory in northern Syria following several ground incursions between 2016 and 2020 aimed at undermining the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. 

Praise from Trump

Ankara has been pressing Washington to axe its alliance with the SDF and withdraw some 2,000 US troops from Syria. Incoming President Donald Trump decided to withdraw American troops from the country during his first term, but the decision was shelved amid strong objections from his high-level aides as well as the US Congress. 

On Tuesday, Trump praised Erdogan and called him a "friend." 

"President Erdogan is a friend of mine. He's a guy I like, respect. I think he respects me also," Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Asked if he would withdraw US troops from Syria, the incoming US president said such decision will depend on the military strategy and credited Turkey with the push to topple the Assad regime on Dec. 8. 

“But if you look at what happened with Syria, Russia was weakened; Iran was weakened. And [Erdogan is] a very smart guy, and he sent his people in there through different forms and different names, and they went in and they took over,” Trump said. 

Turkey has been the main backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups fighting against former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Following the fall of his regime, Fidan and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin were the first high-level foreign officials to visit Damascus. 

Fidan said Ankara has also been in talks with Syria's new interim government as well as its de facto ruler, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, to address Turkey’s security concerns over the SDF. 

“The new administration in Syria needs to take responsibility for this problem. And it needs to take the steps it needs to take,” Fidan said.

He added that talks were underway and will take time, and that Turkey wouldn’t hesitate to launch another offensive if the problem remains unsolved. 

Israeli support for Kurds

Fidan also downplayed Israel’s support of the SDF after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar openly criticized Turkey last month for Turkish-backed groups' offensive against the SDF-held areas.

“Everyone in the region has contact with everyone else,” Fidan said. “It is well known that Israel has contact with the YPG  both directly and indirectly,” he added, referring to the People's Defense Units, the backbone of the SDF. 

“The purpose of this contact and what it will evolve into have to be monitored. This applies to all contacts.”