Bahceli threatens military action if March 10 deal with SDF fails
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, warned on Tuesday that military action against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would be inevitable if the group fails to comply with the March 10 agreement.
Earlier the same day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged that Ankara would “always stand by Syria,” stressing, “We will never leave Syria alone, and no one will, God willing, be able to prevent its revival.” Erdogan made the remarks aboard his flight returning from China. He added, “Those who try to obstruct the course established in Syria will pay the price.”
Bahceli, a key ally of Erdogan, emphasized that any such intervention would be carried out jointly by Ankara and Damascus, underscoring what he described as a “shared will” between the two governments. He said that if the transitional Syrian government and the SDF fail to uphold the terms of the March 10 agreement, “intervention becomes inevitable.”
The March 10 agreement, reached earlier this year, has been cited by Turkish officials as a framework meant to regulate relations in northern Syria. However, its terms remain disputed, with Ankara repeatedly accusing the SDF of violating security arrangements along the border.
The SDF, backed by the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, controls large parts of northeast Syria and has been a central partner in counterterrorism operations against ISIS. Ankara, however, regards the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it designates as a terrorist organization.
Despite Ankara’s frequent threats of cross-border offensives, the SDF maintains that its forces are focused on securing stability and continuing operations against ISIS sleeper cells, particularly in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa. The group has not issued an immediate response to Bahceli’s latest remarks.
Bahceli’s statement comes amid renewed Turkish rhetoric about deepening cooperation with Damascus, a move that analysts say could reshape dynamics along the Syrian-Turkish frontier.