President Erdoğan: The gravest threat against peace, serenity and stability in our region stems from terrorist organizations
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) in Azerbaijan.
“WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED IN SYRIA OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS HAS SHOWN THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION BY MEANS OF ANOTHER ONE”
President Erdoğan said: “The gravest threat against peace, serenity and stability in our region stems from terrorist organizations. The presence of such evil networks as PKK/YPG, DAESH and FETO has rendered it more important that we cooperate in the area of security. What we have experienced in Syria over the past eight years has shown that it is impossible to eliminate a terrorist organization by means of another one. Our country took a crucial step on October 9 to eliminate the PKK/YPG terrorist organization.”
President Erdoğan stated: “Our Operation Peace Spring has two important goals. The first one is to totally remove the terror threat emanating from PKK/YPG in the north of Syria. The second goal of the operation is to enable the 3,650,000 Syrians whom we have been hosting for eight years to return to their homeland with their minds at peace. Today is the seventh day of the operation, which successfully continues in line with the safe zone map which we shared with the entire world at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. As of this morning, we saved an area of approximately 1000 sq. km. from the invasion of the separatist terrorist organization. We will secure the area extending from Manbij to the Iraqi border and then facilitate 1 million Syrian refugees’ return home in the first phase and, later on, the return of 2 million.”
“WITH ITS GEOGRAPHICAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE, THE TURKIC WORLD HARBORS A UNIQUE WEALTH IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC CAPACITY”
Drawing attention to the increasing importance of such structures as the Turkic Council in the world politics, President Erdoğan said: “It is important to us that the Turkic Council operate in cooperation and coordination with other multilateral platforms. We want the Turkic Council to have an observer status at the UN General Assembly and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Representative Office of the Council, inaugurated last month in Budapest, represents a historic step in terms of the Council’s effectiveness. The Representative Office will immensely contribute to the Council’s relations with European countries and organizations. With its geographical and demographic structure, the Turkic world harbors a unique wealth in terms of economic capacity.”
