DEM Party’s Bakırhan to Foreign Minister Fidan: “Are You a Diplomat, or Speaking From Sharaa’s Operations Room?”

Summary:

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party has sharply criticized ongoing operations in northern Syria, accusing armed groups linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Damascus authorities of violating the March 10 Memorandum with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan directed pointed remarks at Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, questioning whether Ankara is pursuing diplomacy or military confrontation.

The co-chairs of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, held a press conference at the party’s headquarters to address recent clashes in Syria’s Aleppo province, where groups aligned with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have been conducting operations in neighborhoods previously controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

“The March 10 Memorandum Is Being Trampled”

Speaking first, Hatimoğulları said the fighting in Aleppo amounted to a clear violation of the March 10 Memorandum between HTS-linked forces and the SDF.

“With every bomb dropped and every bullet fired in Aleppo, this memorandum is being trampled underfoot,” she said. “The Damascus administration has shown through its actions in Aleppo that it does not abide by the March 10 agreement. Civilian neighborhoods are being attacked with ISIS insignia, and violence is openly encouraged through dark fatwas declaring ‘Kurdish blood permissible.’ These attacks are directed not only at Kurds, but at the shared conscience of humanity.”

Hatimoğulları called on Turkey’s Defense Ministry to immediately refrain from what she described as rhetoric that escalates tensions, arguing that official statements risk encouraging further violence.

Bakırhan: Civilian Attacks Cannot Be Justified

Bakırhan followed with an even harsher tone, condemning the shelling of residential areas, hospitals, and civilians.

“Bombing neighborhoods with heavy weapons, targeting hospitals, and killing children cannot be justified under any political pretext,” he said. “Tens of thousands of civilians have had their water, electricity, and access to medicine cut off in the middle of winter. This is a deliberate and systematic policy of erasure.”

Bakırhan said the operations, which he argued ignored a separate April 1 agreement, constituted a crime not only against Aleppo but against Syria’s future.

Direct Challenge to Hakan Fidan

Bakırhan reserved his sharpest criticism for Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, reacting to Fidan’s recent remarks that groups in Syria would either “see power or face the threat of power.”

“This is not the language of diplomacy; it is the language of conflict,” Bakırhan said. “We ask plainly: Are you a diplomat, or are you a soldier? Are you speaking from diplomatic corridors, or from the operations room run by Sharaa? Decide. If you are a diplomat, then act like one. If not, go sit in the Syria operations room so we know what you are.”

Bakırhan argued that such rhetoric undermines what he described as a peace initiative associated with İmralı and represents an attempt to suppress that process on the Syrian front. “If we sabotage a solution in Aleppo, we sabotage a solution in Ankara as well,” he warned.

Call to Engage the SDF

As a concrete proposal, Bakırhan urged the Turkish government to open direct dialogue with the SDF.

“What needs to be done is clear,” he said. “Invite SDF representatives to Ankara. Sit around a table, talk, negotiate, and seek a solution together.”

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