Türkiye: We are carefully monitoring the increasing terrorist attacks in Tal Rifaat and Manbij
The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed that Ankara is carefully monitoring the increase in terrorist attacks in the Syrian cities of Tal Rifaat and Manbij on civilians and Türkiye in an attempt to exploit the current environment of instability.
This came in a statement issued by the ministry’s spokesman, Oncu Keçali, on Friday evening, commenting on the developments in Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, and the surrounding area.
Maintaining peace in Idlib, which borders Türkiye, and the surrounding area is a priority issue for Turkey, Keçali said.
He pointed out that some agreements had been signed between the concerned parties regarding the de-escalation zone in Idlib since 2017 and that Türkiye had carefully fulfilled the requirements of the agreements in which it participated.
Keçali stressed that Türkiye has issued the necessary warnings in various international forums that the recent attacks on Idlib have reached a level that would harm the spirit and work of the Astana agreements and cause heavy losses among civilians, and stressed the need to stop these attacks.
He pointed out that the clashes that took place in recent days led to an unwanted increase in tension in the region.
The spokesman explained that not causing new and greater unrest in the region and ensuring that civilians aren’t harmed are two matters of great importance to Türkiye.
He also stressed that Türkiye is also carefully monitoring the increasing attacks targeting civilians and Türkiye by “terrorist organizations” in Tal Rifaat and Manbij, which are trying to take advantage of the current environment of instability.
The spokesman said that the failure to implement the agreements reached with the concerned parties to end the presence of terrorists in these two regions increases Türkiye’s concerns.
He pointed out that Ankara is closely following developments within the framework of the importance it attaches to the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and the priority it gives to combating terrorism.
