"The developments in Syria and the larger Middle East have a direct effect on the peace process in Turkey," said Zagros Hiwa, spokesman for the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The attacks "against the Kurds are a plot and conspiracy against the peace process and they indicate a setback in the process", he told AFP.

His remarks were echoed by another senior PKK official who warned that policies targeting the Kurds in northern Syria were not compatible with peace efforts.

Syria's government and Kurdish forces on Saturday extended a truce by 15 days after the Kurds lost large areas to government forces during weeks of clashes.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) now find themselves restricted to Kurdish-majority areas in the country's north.

Turkey is a close ally of Syria's new leadership which overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, and which is now seeking to extend state control across Syria.

Ankara is simultaneously leading a drive to reach a settlement with the PKK -- listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies.

Last year, the PKK said it was ending its four-decade insurgency in favour of democratic means, but the process has largely stalled amid the stand-off in Syria.

Turkey accuses the Syrian Kurdish forces of being an offshoot of the PKK.

Hiwa said the PKK's "commitment to the peace process is a strategic issue".

But he said "the new strategy does not exclude the urgency of self-defence".

Although there were "hopes for a permanent ceasefire" in Syria, the PKK would "re-evaluate" its stance if there were "further escalation and acts of genocide against the Kurds", he added.

In an interview with the Kurdish Sterk TV, senior PKK leader Murat Karayilan warned Ankara that "there can be no peace with the Kurds over the dead bodies of Rojava" -- the name used by Syrian Kurds for the area they administer.

"In other words... if your main goal is to wipe them out (in Syria) while expecting the Kurds in the north to make peace with Turkey, this is impossible," he said in remarks relayed by Mezopotamya news agency.

"If you really desire brotherhood and peace, this policy must be abandoned and a fundamental change must be made."

Last week, Karayilan vowed the PKK would "never abandon" Kurds in Syria and would "do whatever is necessary" to help them.