Turkiye FM denies Trump’s claim of Turkiye’s ‘unfriendly takeover’ of Syria | Syrian War News

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan dismissed the claim of incoming United States President Donald Trump that the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey.

In words apparently praising Ankara, Trump told a press conference earlier this week that Turkey was “very smart” and had taken “unfriendly action without the loss of many lives” in Syria.

In an interview with Al Jazeera broadcast on Wednesday, Turkey’s foreign minister said it would be “a big mistake” to describe the current events in Syria as a takeover of Turkiye.

“For the Syrian people, it is not about taking power. I think that if there is something to eat, it is the will of the Syrian people that is taking over now,” said Fidan.

The foreign minister also said that the “last thing” Turkey wants is to be seen as the last regional power in Syria, pointing to a regime that has brought havoc to the region.

“Well, I think that will be the last thing we want to see because we are learning big lessons from what happened in our region, because the culture of governance itself has destroyed our region,” said Fidan. “Not Turkish rule, not Iranian rule, not Arab rule, but cooperation should be important,” he said.

“Our solidarity with the Syrian people should not be seen or described today as if … we actually rule Syria.” I think that would be wrong,” he added.

Asked about US media reports about concerns that the Turkish military may be ready to launch a major war in Syria to eliminate Kurdish forces against Turkey, the foreign minister identified the YPG (People’s Protection Units) as a “significant threat” to his country.

The armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been labeled a “terrorist organization” by Turkey and the West, and Fidan has described the YPG as an “extension” of the PKK in Syria.

The YPG continued to control Syrian territory by presenting itself as helping the West in the fight against ISIL (ISIS), the foreign minister said. “I think this is a misrepresentation of who they really are. They exist as a terrorist organization,” said Fidan.

“Unfortunately, our friends in the West … do not see this fact that the YPG is an extension of the PKK,” he said, adding that Ankara has been asking Washington to stop military support for the Syrian Democratic Forces, where the YPG is the main fighting force.

Fidan also said that the new Syrian government must deal with the issue of Kurdish forces in its territory, which will avoid the need for Ankara to take action.

“There is a new administration in Damascus now. I think this is their main concern now. Therefore, I think that if they do it, if they fix this issue properly, there will be no reason for us to intervene,” he said.

Local witnesses told the French news agency AFP that there has been an increase in the number of soldiers roaming on the Turkish side of the border, but irregular soldiers have not been seen.

Fidan also said that Turkiye recognized the new administration in Syria as a “legal partner” of Ankara, which is why the Turkish embassy in Damascus has been reopened and the ambassador has been instructed to contact local government officials and the head.

Officials of the United Nations, the European Union, and other countries have also contacted the new administration, Fidan noted, adding that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group – its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu. Mohammed al-Julani, is the de facto leader of Syria – he should be removed from the ‘terrorist organization’ list.

“I think it’s time for the international community, from the UN, you know, to remove their names from the list of terrorists,” Fidan said of HTS, which is the main part of the coalition currently ruling Syria.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged over the weekend that Washington was in contact with HTS, and that the talks with the group were in the broader context of Syria’s future.

The US State Department added HTS to its list of “foreign terrorist organizations” in May 2018 due to its ties to al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.

Since 2016, al-Sharaa of HTS has distanced the organization from al-Qaeda and has been positioning itself and HTS as the trusted guardians of Syria in the post-Assad era.