Turkey-Iran tensions soar over Tehran's ties with Syrian Kurds

The foreign ministries of Turkey and Iran recently "invited" each other's ambassadors or chargés d'affaires for meetings. This followed comments made by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan regarding Iran's regional policies, which were widely reported in the media and drew criticism from the Iranian side. These diplomatic moves aim to ease tensions between the two countries and facilitate communication on relevant issues.

On February 26, Fidan stated in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic that Iran's foreign policy of relying on regional militias has cost it more than it has gained. When asked if Iran might support Syrian Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, Fidan directly expressed his views.

Fidan warned: "If you try to create unrest in another country by supporting a certain group, then another country may also support a group within your country to create unrest for you. In today's world, nothing can be hidden. The capabilities you have, others also have. Therefore, if you don't want others to throw stones at your windows, you shouldn't throw stones at theirs." Many Turks interpreted this as Ankara potentially supporting certain groups within Iran, particularly the large Azerbaijani ethnic group with linguistic and cultural ties to Turkey.

Iranian officials quickly responded to Fidan's remarks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani wrote on social media that Iran has never pursued regional ambitions in the past fifty years. "We were the first country to oppose and confront the coup against the Turkish government," Kanaani said over the weekend. "We were among the first to welcome the disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and considered it an important step in strengthening the security of our neighbor Turkey."

Meanwhile, Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani acknowledged on Tuesday that Turkey and Iran have "differences of opinion" in the region and called Fidan's remarks "unconstructive." She also warned that similar remarks should be avoided in the future. "We have problems with Turkey on the issue of Syria, and we hope that these problems can be handled wisely," Mohajerani said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry "invited" the Turkish Ambassador to Tehran, Hicabi Kırlangıç, for a meeting on Tuesday, further escalating diplomatic tensions. According to reports, Iranian officials told him that "the sensitive regional situation requires avoiding inappropriate remarks and unrealistic analyses that may lead to disputes and tensions in bilateral relations." In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry invited the Iranian Chargé d'Affaires in Ankara for a meeting, noting recent public criticisms of Turkey by Iranian officials. A file on the matter was reportedly handed over to the Iranian side.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli emphasized Ankara's preference for direct diplomacy. "We believe that, under any circumstances, foreign policy issues should not be used as material for domestic politics. Within this framework, we prefer to directly convey critical information that needs to be passed on to another country to their recipients," Keçeli said on Tuesday. Despite the tensions, Turkey and Iran avoided formally summoning each other's diplomats, with both sides using the term "invite" in public statements and emphasizing their commitment to maintaining bilateral relations based on mutual interests.

Turkey and Iran have been regional rivals for decades, with Syria being a key battleground. The downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would dramatically alter the country's balance of power, strengthening Ankara's position while weakening Iran's influence. Since then, Turkish officials have been working to reach an agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) (which Turkey classifies as a terrorist organization) and Damascus. The proposed arrangement would integrate Kurdish forces into the Syrian National Army and expel PKK leaders to Iraq.

Serhan Afacan, chairman of the Center for Iranian Studies in Turkey (IRAM), told Middle East Eye that Ankara remains highly sensitive to the possibility of Iranian support for the Syrian Democratic Forces or the PKK. He said that Iran's interactions with the PKK and its affiliates have long been an open secret. But speculation remains as to whether Tehran directly supports the group or simply turns a blind eye to its activities, which also extend into Iranian territory. "In successive statements made in May 2024, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler emphasized that Iran did not give sufficient importance to the issue of PKK terrorists," Afacan said. "Güler stated that when Turkey informed the Iranians that terrorists were entering from their border, they did not receive the necessary response. On the other hand, Iran has previously described Turkey's counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria as 'violations of sovereignty.'"

While Iran recognizes the PKK as a terrorist organization, it has not adopted the same designation for its Syrian affiliates, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces and the People's Protection Units (YPG), aligning its position with Western countries. Iranian journalist and expert Fereshteh Sadeghi emphasized that despite periodic foreign policy clashes between the two countries, Iran still views Turkey as a key neighbor and values efforts to improve bilateral relations. She also noted that Turkish and Iranian media often adopt hostile attitudes towards each other and should not be taken too seriously. "I don't think Iran is necessarily using the SDF against Turkey, but rather using them to advance its own interests in Syria," she told Middle East Eye. "At the same time, Iran's access to Lebanon has now been cut off, and it may use the SDF as an intermediary or middleman to enter Lebanon. Therefore, we should not assume that Tehran's engagement with the SDF is solely to put the Kurds in a position of confrontation with Turkey."