Turkish Defense Minister: Our withdrawal from Syrian territory is conditional with creating a safe environment
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler confirmed that the Turkish forces present in Syrian territory won’t withdraw before creating a safe environment.
Güler said in an interview with the Turkish Milliyet newspaper, “We’re not encroaching on anyone’s lands, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made this clear in every meeting… We don’t need other people’s land”.
Güler continued, “At this stage, when there are about 4 million Syrians in our country, and there are risks that an additional 5 million Syrians in Idlib will turn into refugees in Türkiye at any moment, then how do you think we can get out of there without creating a safe environment?”
Güler Explained that Türkiye needs to create a safe environment and conditions in the Syrian territories in which it’s present, before withdrawing.
“The constitution, which Damascus is now obligated to prepare, will be adopted, and elections will be held, in which a government will be formed that will include all the people here, and after that we will leave with pleasure,” he added.
The Turkish Armed Forces entered Syrian territory on August 24, 2016, beginning a declared direct military intervention in Syria that seeks to target both ISIS and forces allied with the Kurds in Syria.
