Erdogan: A dark era has ended in Syria… Assad fled leaving behind a million dead
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated the Syrian people on the fall of the Baath Party regime, and expressed his support for the Syrians, saying, “Half of our heart is Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa, and the other half is Afrin, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus”.
President Erdogan’s remarks came in a speech to the nation following a government meeting on Monday at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara.
Erdogan explained that as of Sunday, a dark era has ended in Syria and a bright era has begun.
He added that Türkiye’s position towards Syria wasn’t at all based on interest, but rather from a humanitarian perspective.
He expressed his belief that the strong winds of change blowing in Syria will lead to beneficial results for all the Syrian people, especially the immigrants.
He continued, “The Turkish people will forever carry the glory of embracing the oppressed Syrians in their dark days as a badge of honor”.
He added, “The old regime (Assad regime) arrogantly rejected our calls to resolve the Syrian conflict through dialogue and didn’t appreciate the value of our extended hand”.
He pointed out that the president of the collapsed Syrian regime, fled, leaving behind a country in which nearly one million people were killed, 12 million people were displaced, and cities were turned into rubble.
He expressed his hope that the voluntary, safe, dignified and regular return of Syrians to their country would increase, as stability in Syria continues.
Erdogan stressed that Türkiye has no ambitions in the territory of another country, and that its sole goal of its military operations outside the borders is to protect the homeland and citizens from terrorist attacks.
He added, “The PKK and ISIS are our enemies and the territorial integrity of Syria must be protected”.
Regarding the positions of opposition circles in Türkiye against Syrian refugees, Erdogan said, “The dirty mentality that fueled hatred of refugees in our country lost with the unjust Assad regime”.
He continued, “While Aleppo, Hama, Homs and then Damascus came under the control of the original owners of Syria, the Baath dictatorship that had lived on blood, oppression and tyranny for 61 years completely collapsed”.
Erdogan welcomed the cleansing of the Tal Rifaat and Manbij areas in the Aleppo countryside from PKK/YPG militants.
He added, “The fact that the old regime in Syria, when it withdrew, left some cities to the separatist terrorist organization confirms once again the dirty alliance between them”.
He pointed out that the Assad regime didn;t abandon its “anti-Turkish” position throughout the years of the civil war.
He stressed that Türkiye has fulfilled its obligations as a neighbor since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, and that Ankara has always supported freedom, dialogue, justice, and establishing peace in Syria as soon as possible.
