“We are in contact with Russia every step of the way in Syria,” Erdogan said.
Istanbul:
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey does not want to seize any Syrian territory, despite intensifying its attacks against Kurdish forces in the war-torn country’s north.
Erdogan’s remarks came days after Turkey launched an airstrike by government forces on a Syrian border post that reportedly killed 17 fighters.
A war watchdog said both Kurds, who work at Syrian border posts and some of the regime’s forces, were killed in the Turkish raid.
The official Syrian news agency said three government soldiers were killed.
Turkey said it was responding to an attack on its own bases on the border in which two soldiers were killed.
The exchange of fire is one of the biggest increases since the trade attacks in Ankara and Damascus in 2020.
Erdogan appeared to try to defuse tensions in comments to reporters on his return flight from his first wartime visit to Ukraine.
Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying, “We do not have an eye on Syrian territory because the Syrian people are our brothers.”
“Government should be aware of this.”
Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine comes two weeks after he left for Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which also included Syria.
Putin’s support was instrumental in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad survive an 11-year struggle against rebel groups backed by Turkey.
Erdogan said he told Putin he wanted to cooperate more closely with Russia in the northern Syrian regions, where Ankara views Kurds as “terrorists”.
“We are in contact with Russia every step of the way in Syria,” Erdogan said.
– Reprimand with Assad? ,
The border clashes came amid fears that Turkey was preparing to launch its fourth cross-border operation against Kurdish forces since 2016.
Erdogan accused Kurdish fighters in Syria – allied with the United States against Islamic State jihadists – as outlawed terrorists with links to groups that have waged decades of insurgency against the Turkish state.
He reiterated his slogan on Friday that Turkish forces could attack Syrian Kurds “all of a sudden one night”.
But he also indicated that Turkey may be open to a possible rebuke with Assad after vehemently opposing his regime.
“There should be no resentment in politics,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.
He said Turkey has built ties with its one-time rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates over the years.
“We need to take more steps with Syria,” he said without fully explaining what might be involved.
Turkish Foreign Minister Kavusoglu last week sparked protests in northern Syrian regions controlled by Ankara by calling for a “reconciliation” between rebel groups and Assad.
He also revealed that last year he had his first brief meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister since 2011.
“You must always be at peace,” Erdogan said on Friday. “You should have the opportunity to meet at any time.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)