Exclusive-Syrian Kurdish commander: non-Syrian Kurdish fighters to leave if total truce agreed with Turkey

HASAKAH, Syria - Kurdish fighters who came to Syria from around the Middle East to support Syrian Kurdish forces will leave if a total ceasefire is reached in the conflict with Turkey in northern Syria, the commander of Syrian Kurdish-led forces told Reuters on Thursday.

The withdrawal of non-Syrian Kurdish fighters is one of the major demands of neighbouring Turkey, which deems Syria's dominant Kurdish groups a national security threat and is backing a new military campaign against them in the north.

Hostilities have escalated since Bashar al-Assad was toppled less than two weeks ago, with Turkey and Syrian armed groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Dec. 9.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi's comments mark the first time he has confirmed that non-Syrian Kurdish fighters, including members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have come to Syria to support his forces during the Syrian conflict. Turkey, the United States, and other countries deem the PKK a terrorist group.

Ankara views the main Syrian Kurdish factions as an extension of the PKK. Abdi said that while PKK fighters had come to Syria, the SDF has no organisational ties to the group.

He credited the non-Syrian fighters with helping the U.S.-backed SDF battle Islamic State over the last decade. He said that while some of them had returned home over the years, others had stayed to help fight Islamic State, and that it would be time for them to go home if a ceasefire was reached.

"There is a different situation in Syria, we are now starting a political stage. Syrians must solve their problems themselves and establish a new administration," he said.

"We are now preparing, after a total ceasefire between us and the Turkish forces and their affiliated factions, to join this stage," he said.

"Because there are new developments in Syria, it is time for the fighters who helped us in our war to return to their areas with their heads held high," he added.

The United States, which views the SDF as a key partner in countering Islamic State, has been mediating to stop fighting between Turkey and the Syrian Arab groups it supports, and the SDF.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday a ceasefire around Manbij had been extended until the end of the week. But a Turkish defence ministry official on Thursday said there was no talk of a ceasefire deal with the SDF.

Abdi said Turkey and its Syrian allies were preparing to attack the city of Kobani, or Ayn al-Arab, at the border, prompting the SDF to propose a withdrawal of its forces from the area.

Under the proposal, the area would be left in the hands of an internal security force with U.S. forces present "to supervise this area - provided that there is a complete truce".

"On the other hand, we are preparing ourselves to repel any attack if it happens," he said.

Kobani was the scene of a major battle between Kurdish forces and Islamic State at the height of its power in 2014.

Abdi said Kurdish fighters from Iran, Iraq and Turkey had first come to Syria to help drive the jihadists back from Kobani. Following the battle of Kobani, some - such as Iraq's Peshmerga - had returned home.

After the Kobani battle, Abdi said there were "fighters from the Workers' Party who wanted to continue with us in this war until ISIS was completely eliminated".

Following Islamic State's defeat in its last territorial foothold in Syria in 2019, Abdi said "some of them returned to their places, but because the war was ongoing and the region was still in danger, some of them decided to stay and help us", some in civil institutions and others in military institutions.

"When the truce is implemented, we can also work to return the non-Syrian Kurdish fighters to their areas, noting that some of them have returned and some of them want to return," he said.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alex Richardson)