Erdogan proclaims Turkey’s right to fend for itself in operations in Syria and Iraq

ANKARA, 23 November – RIA Novosti. Commenting on the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in Syria and Iraq, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara has the right to “take care of itself”.

“The true faces of those who condemned this action with crocodile tears were revealed in their reactions to the operations. It turned out that those who said that there would be no threat to our country from the region under their control in Syria could not hold on. Erdogan said in a speech he made at a meeting of the ruling party, “We remained true to his words about the Syrian borders, but our opponents If he can’t keep his promises, then we have the right to take care of ourselves,” he said.

“764 missiles and mortar attacks were carried out on our provinces of Hatay, Şanlıurfa and Şırnak on the Syrian border. 32 of our citizens were martyred and 261 of our citizens were injured,” Erdogan said.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had earlier said that the Russian side had not fulfilled its obligation to “clear” the Syrian regions of Kurdish armed groups under the 2019 agreement. The chairman of the State Duma Control Committee, Oleg Morozov, told RIA Novosti that the Russian Federation fulfills all its obligations, this also applies to the “cleansing” of the Syrian regions from Kurdish armed groups, but patrolling the areas is a collective responsibility. . Later, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Turkey did not fulfill its obligations in the “Astana” process for Syrian settlement.

In October 2019, the Russian Federation and Turkey signed a 10-point memorandum of understanding on bringing the Russian military police and the Syrian border service, in particular, to the Syrian side of the Turkish border outside the border area. Turkish operation “Source of Peace” to facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish detachments and weapons 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu later reported that the Kurdish withdrawal was completed ahead of schedule. Then joint Russian-Turkish patrols began.

Ankara conducted an airstrike on the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Syria on Sunday – attacks were reported in northern Iraq as well as the city of Kobani. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described the operation as a success and did not ignore the future of the ground operation. Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar announced that 184 militants were neutralized in Operation Claw-Sword in Syria and Iraq, which lasted for two days.

On Monday, Erdogan also said he had not discussed the Turkish air operation in northern Syria and Iraq with either Russian President Vladimir Putin or US President Joe Biden. “But both Biden and Putin know that we can carry out such operations in this region at any time,” he said. In this framework, the next – 19th – negotiation round on Syria starts on Tuesday in Astana, Turkey – together with Russia and Iran – is a guarantor country for the Syrian negotiations.

Damascus has repeatedly described the presence of Turkish forces conducting operations against Kurdish formations in the Syrian border region as illegal and urged Ankara to withdraw its troops. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), based on the YPG’s self-defense units, control most of the Hasakah and Raqqa provinces and some settlements in the Aleppo provinces, with the support of the US military. and Deir ez-Zor. Most of the neighborhoods, especially in the cities of Haseke and Qamishli, are under their control. Official Damascus does not recognize an autonomous administration in northeastern Syria.

Syria has been in an armed conflict since 2011. Negotiations in Nur-Sultan, known as the “Astana format”, have been going on since 2017, and in January 2018, the Syrian National Dialogue Congress was held in Sochi for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, an attempt to bring together a broad circle. large number of participants in a negotiation platform. The main result of the congress was the decision to establish a constitutional committee operating in Geneva, its main task was to prepare a constitutional reform.