Germany calls on Turkey to refrain from attacking Syria’s Kurdish groups

Germany on Monday warned Turkey against stepping up military action against Kurdish armed groups in the north of Syria, two weeks after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, namely the Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish fighters.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned on Monday that a war by Turkey against the Kurdish groups "must not happen", saying that in the end this could empower "the IS terrorists" .

"That would be a security threat for Syria, but also for Turkey and for us in Europe," Baerbock told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

Turkey has maintained strong ties with Syria's new leaders, and has continued military operations against Kurdish-held areas in northeastern Syria.

Turkey views the Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) as a terror group because it is dominated by the YPG, a Kurdish group it says is linked to PKK militants who have fought a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.

But the US-backed force led the fight against the IS group in Syria in 2019, with the SDF seen by the United States as a "crucial" to prevent a jihadist resurgence in the area.

Baerbock also pointed out that "it was the Kurds in particular who pushed back the IS", recalling the "terrible massacres committed by IS terrorists".

The Syrian city of Kobane has become "a symbol of the courageous fight of the Kurds against IS," said Baerbock.

She cautioned NATO ally Turkey that the current situation in Syria should "not be used to drive out the Kurds again, to cause renewed violence".

"We all have a responsibility to ensure that there is no new violence, no new radical forces, but that people can finally live in safety after years of this terror," she said, adding that "the unity of Syria must be preserved".