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Erdogan: An attack on Syria will continue to be on our agenda – What he told reporters

A new Turkish offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria will remain on Turkey’s agenda until its security concerns are addressed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to a statement released by the presidency, after talks with his leaders. Iran and Russia.

Erdogan, who announced earlier this year that Turkey would launch a new offensive in northern Syria against the YPG, held talks on Syria with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Tehran on Tuesday: “A new operation will continue to be in our agenda until our national security concerns are resolved. On the other hand, you see American staff there training members of the terrorist organization.”

Speaking to reporters on his return flight, Erdogan said the three countries were united in the anti-terror effort despite having different views on some issues related to Syria, adding that he believed all three thought the same about the YPG, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization: “We want Russia and Iran to be on our side in our fight against terrorist organizations 30 kilometers south of the border. Here they should give us the necessary support. We have expressed this here and to Mr. Putin and Mr. President [Ραΐσι]. Both have already highlighted these issues in their statements. I think we do not think separately in terms of PKK/YPG/PYD issues. But after that, we have to keep working on it.”

Erdogan accused the YPG, a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, of “draining” Syrian gasoline and later selling it to President Bashar al-Assad’s government: “Currently, the terrorist organization is absorbing and exploiting oil fields in east of the Euphrates. Then he sells to the regime. There is such a situation.”

He also said that the United States should withdraw from east of the Euphrates River and end its support for terrorist groups: “America has transferred thousands of truckloads of weapons, ammunition and equipment to terrorist organizations here. This is still going on. Even coalition forces continue their support in the same way. We told Mr. Biden that in our meetings as well. We said, ‘Look, you’re sending all these trucks here. You’re giving this support to all the terrorist organizations here. After that , you say we are together in the fight against terrorism, we are together in NATO.’ How are we together? We have to constantly process these.”

“As you know, we had a target of $30 billion in the financial sector during the Ahmadinejad era. We are at a point of $7.5 billion right now. But the rise will continue over the next period. Certainly trade, transport, customs, energy, tourism. We saw once again that we have a common will to improve our cooperation in areas such as industry, youth and sports. During our meetings, we also exchanged views on regional and international issues. Our ministers in my delegation discussed the issues of cooperation in various fields with their counterparts. We signed a total of 8 agreements that will further strengthen the legal infrastructure of our relations,” Erdogan said.

Petros Kranias

Source: Capital

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