While German diplomats want to establish initial contacts with the new leadership in Damascus after the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has commented on the threat of a Turkish attack on Kobanê. She wrote on X:" Kobanê is a symbol of the Kurds' courageous fight against ISIS. Further bloodshed is the last thing the people should experience after 14 years of war. Turkey also has a responsibility to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and the hope for peace."

Imminent attack on Kobanê

Parallel to the advance of the HTS in Idlib at the end of November, Turkey has occupied Tall Rifaat and Manbij with the help of its mercenary militia SNA and is currently threatening the symbolic city of Kobanê and other areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (DAANES) east of the Euphrates. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday evening that negotiations with Turkey on a ceasefire via the US had failed. This is the fourth Turkish invasion of northern Syria since 2016. The DAANES presented a ten-point plan for political dialogue in Syria and called for the unity and sovereignty of the Syrian state to be maintained and the country to be protected from attacks by the Turkish state and its supporters.