Kurdish force rejects call to join Syrian army and fight 'one enemy' Turkey

Turkish and Syrian forces clashed earlier this week.

Syrian government forces carry a national flag as they man a checkpoint near the town of Tal Tamr, north Syria. Source: AP

Syria's army and police have called on Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria to join their ranks following a Turkish cross-border incursion, a proposal they swiftly rejected. 

The appeal by Damascus comes after regime troops deployed along with parts of Syria's northeastern border in a deal with Kurdish authorities to help stave off the Turkish offensive, launched on 9 October.

It is the largest Syrian army deployment in the area since 2012.

Children hold placards denouncing Turkey and the Turkish offensive in Germany. Source: dpa-Zentralbild

A separate ceasefire agreement reached between Ankara and Damascus-backer Moscow last week provided for members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to withdraw from the border and solidified the presence of pro-government forces there.

"The general command of the armed forces is ready to welcome members of SDF units who are willing to join its ranks," a Syrian defence ministry statement said.

It said all Syrians, including the Kurdish minority, were confronting "one enemy".

Syria's interior ministry said it was willing to provide police services to residents of the northeast, calling on members of the Kurdish internal security services, known as Asayish, to join its ranks, SANA reported.

The SDF, de facto army of the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria, turned down the proposal.

Kurdish forces withdraw from an area near the Turkish border with Syria, overseen by the Russian forces. Source: AP

It said, "a unity of ranks must proceed from a political settlement that recognises and preserves the SDF's special status and structure".

Such a move would also require "a sound mechanism to restructure the Syrian military establishment", it said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands Source: AAP

The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies attacked Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria in early October with the aim of creating a roughly 30-kilometre deep buffer zone along the frontier.

Left in the lurch by a US troop withdrawal from the border area, Kurdish forces turned to the Syrian government for protection.

Damascus forces rushed north and are expected to deploy along much of the border zone, but a 10-kilometre-deep strip is set to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops under their deal.