Erdogan: Türkiye backs Syria's integrity but won’t tolerate terrorist threats

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country strictly observes international norms and has no views on Syrian territory, but will not tolerate the activation of terrorist organizations there, TRT Haber TV channel reported.  

“We were initially in favour of preserving Syria's territorial integrity. We have no territorial claims to it. A dark period in Syria's history has ended, the future of the country is to be decided by the Syrian people,” Erdogan said after a Turkish cabinet meeting chaired by him, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

He said Türkiye has strictly abided by the requirements of international law since the beginning of the Syrian conflict.

"We have been for freedom, dialogue, justice and immediate peace in Syria. Despite the hostile attitude of the Syrian state regime, we have upheld the principle of territorial integrity and unitary structure of the country. We have no views on the territory of Syria. But we will not tolerate the activation of PKK/YPG offshoots there. We are closely monitoring them,” he noted.

Notably, the main concern of Türkiye is the presence in northern Syria of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it regards as a terrorist group, closely tied with militants in Turkey who have fought a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state.

By Khagan Isayev