The eulogy of the opposition to Syria for the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his statements on Monday (09.12.2024).
After the meeting of Turkey’s cabinet, Recep Tayyip Erdogan further asserted that “since yesterday, a dark period has ended and a bright period has begun in Syria.”
“If half of my heart is in Gaziantep, the other half is in Aleppo and Damascus,” underlined the Turkish president, while also asking for the protection of Syria’s territorial integrity.
In addition, Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the opening of an additional border crossing to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees.
On the main issue that concerns Turkey regarding the developments in Syria, the de facto autonomy of the Kurds in the northeast of the country and the presence of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara identifies with the PKK and terrorism, the Turkish president said that “Turkey will not tolerate the emergence of new terrorist hotspots beyond its borders».
“Neither the PKK and its extensions in Syria, nor the Islamic State are our country’s interlocutors. The territorial integrity of Syria must be absolutely protected,” he stressed.
He welcomed “the clearing of Tal Rifaat and Manbij from terrorists, areas that have been under the control of the separatist group for years, despite promises made” (cited by the United States and Russia).
He claimed that “Turkey does not lay eyes on the territories of any other country” and that the sole purpose of its cross-border military operations “is the protection of our homeland and citizens from terrorist attacks”.
“The hand extended by Turkey was not appreciated by Assad”
Tayyip Erdogan has once again blamed ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for refusing to negotiate with Turkey over Syria’s future. “Our calls to resolve the Syrian conflict through dialogue were arrogantly rejected by the former regime and the hand extended by our country was not appreciated,” the Turkish president said.
He also noted that “Assad left, leaving behind a Syria where nearly a million people were killed, 12 million people were forced to flee, and many cities were reduced to rubble.».
“If half of our heart is in Gaziantep, Alexandretta (Hatai) and Urfa (Edessa) the other half is in Afrin, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus,” Tayyip Erdogan said, a report that strongly reminiscent of the poet Nazim Hikmet’s lyrics.
|President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan:
My dear Syrian brothers..
From the first day, you trusted only in Allah and hoped for help only from Him.
My brothers, you have achieved a victory that will be written in golden letters in history.
You were patient, you persevered and to these days… pic.twitter.com/Wyw0GeYHfO
— O K A (@OKAreporter) December 9, 2024
Regarding the return of Syrian refugees to Turkey, whose number is officially estimated to be more than three million (according to other estimates it reaches five million), the Turkish president expressed his belief that “the strong wind of change blowing in Syria will lead to auspicious results for all the Syrian people, especially the refugees” and said that “as Syria stabilizes, I hope that voluntary, safe, dignified and coordinated returns will increase.”
To facilitate the return of Syrian asylum seekers, he said, Turkey will also open the border gate in Yaglantagi, Alexandrettain order to avoid congestion.