The Turkish government has said it could hold talks with Syria if Damascus «acts realistically» with the aim of strengthening the fight against terrorism, following the launch of new bombings against Kurdish groups in the north of the country.
«We have been in talks with the regime for some time now, through the intelligence services. If the regime acts realistically, we are ready to work together on counter-terrorism, the political process and the return of Syrian (refugees),» Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
«Otherwise, it is unthinkable,» he said, before stressing that Ankara is also offering Iraq to join efforts to fight terrorism. «If our interlocutors listen to our appeals, we will walk together and fight terrorism together,» he added.
Thus, Cavusoglu has stressed that «if they continue to fail to give an answer, Turkey will continue on its own.» «We will not allow the terrorist organizations Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to have a safe haven in Syria and Iraq,» he reiterated.
«No matter what anyone says on this issue, we will do whatever is necessary,» he concluded, as reported by the Turkish state news agency Anatolia. Turkey launched operation ‘Sword Claw’ on November 21, a bombing campaign against Kurdish groups following the November 13 bombing in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which left six dead and more than 80 wounded.
In response, Syria accused Turkey of supporting the Islamic State jihadist group and demanded that it «put an end to its military presence» in the Arab country, while blasting the YPG for maintaining an «anti-Syrian project» through the Kurdish autonomous authorities in the north and northeast of the country.
The Turkish government has blamed the attack in Istanbul on the PKK and said that the main suspect had received orders from the YPG – the main member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – although both the PKK and the SDF have disassociated themselves from the attack and expressed their condolences to the victims.
