President Erdoğan: Turkey, most probably, is the only power to have a legitimate presence on Syrian territories
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Extended Meeting with Party’s provincial heads in Ankara.
“OPERATION PEACE SPRING AIMS TO CONTRIBUTE TO SYRIA’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND POLITICAL UNITY”
Making statements on Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring, President Erdoğan underscored that Operation Peace Spring, just like other operations Turkey had previously carried out, aims to contribute to Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity.
No one can speak about territorial integrity or political unity while a quarter of Syrian territories are under the PKK/YPG terrorist organization’s occupation, said President Erdoğan, noting: “We don’t accept the criticism regarding the operation Turkey has launched against terrorist groups while tens of foreign powers roam freely on Syrian territories. Turkey, most probably, is the only power to have a legitimate presence on Syrian territories.”
“THERE ARE 3.6 MILLION SYRIAN REFUGEES IN TURKEY WAITING TO RETURN HOME”
Drawing attention to the 3.6 million Syrian refuses who currently live in Turkey waiting to return home, President Erdoğan said: “Hey, European Union! Pull yourself together. I repeat it: If you try to describe our operation as an invasion, then our job is easy; we open the doors and send 3.6 million refugees to you. They are now calculating money. They say they will not send the second installment which is €3 billion. Have you delivered on your promise so far? It is us that has spent $40 billion. We spend as much again and continue down our path but also open the doors. You should know this.”
“TURKEY KNOWS HOW TO GET ITS DUE BY ITS OWN FORCE IF NEED BE”
“We invite those, who have made a habit of chastising Turkey while turning a blind eye to incidents in Syria, to embrace wisdom, conscience and integrity. It can be described, in the simplest term, as a sign of surrender or incompetence that those who cannot speak up against the true invaders in Syria oppose the steps Turkey takes to defend its legitimate rights. They might be incompetent but Turkey is not and knows how to get its due by its own force if need be,” President Erdoğan said.
“How many Syrians did Arab and European countries that criticize us take in?” asked President Erdoğan, further stressing that no one wants to return to the areas controlled by the separatist terrorist organizations, as is the case with the regions under the regime’s control.
Addressing NATO members, the U.S. in particular, President Erdoğan highlighted Turkey’s NATO membership and, in reference to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, noted that NATO members cannot remain silent in the face of attacks by terrorist organizations against Turkey.
“WITH ITS CROSS-BORDER ATTACKS, THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAS CAUSED OUR CIVILIANS TO GET INJURED”
Stating that the Turkish Air Forces started to hit the previously-identified targets as of 4 p.m. yesterday, President Erdoğan noted that the land forces stepped in at around 10:30 p.m., and added: “Our operation is continuing at the time being with the participation of all our units in the regions of Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. 109 terrorists have so far been killed since the beginning of the operation. Surely, there are the injured other than those 109, and there are also those who have turned themselves in.”
Underscoring that the terrorist organization and its supporters have started to spread fake and baseless reports in order to defame Turkey and to cast shadow on the operation, President Erdoğan said: “When the operation just started, they fired a rocket at an area where Christian Syrians live and then sought to raise hell by saying that, ‘Turkey bombs civilians.’ You are the ones who have dropped bombs, you are the ones who have fired rockets.” Stressing that Turkey has taken necessary measures against this black propaganda, President Erdoğan noted: “With its cross-border attacks, the terrorist organization has destroyed some houses in some districts of ours and caused our civilians to get injured.”
“OUR PLAN IS TO ENABLE EVERYONE TO RETURN HOME”
Pointing out that once the region has been made secure with Operation Peace Spring, everyone living in those areas will be able to return to their homes and towns, President Erdoğan went on to say: “Our plan is to enable everyone to return home. To be more precise; Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians and other ethnic and religious groups will return to their homes, we seek to achieve this. We will thus restore the demographic richness which has been tried to be disrupted in the region.”
“TURKEY HAS NO INTEREST IN ANYONE’S LAND”
“We plan to build new residential areas with the capacity of housing 1 million people for those who will return to the area and have no home, and we plan to build it with the international community’s funding,” President Erdoğan said. “Turkey has no interest in anyone’s land, property or wealth. Similarly, the Syrian National Army, which acts with Turkey, has no such intentions. We as Turkey guarantee that even the slightest disorder will not be allowed. I would like to call on our Syrian brothers and sisters who have been forced to join the YPG. We will welcome all, whether they be an Arab, a Kurd or from another segment, who will leave the PYD and take action to protect their homes, villages, cities and honor.”
Underlining that the name of the operation “Peace Spring” was not randomly selected, President Erdoğan said: “We are taking these steps to wipe out the terrorist organization from the region and truly restore peace in Syria. The Syrian side of our border is full of springs. That’s why we named the operation ‘Peace Spring’. We are not conducting the operation alone but with our Syrian brothers. As soon as the operation was launched, numerous civil society organizations, opinion leaders, tribal leaders, representing the Syrian people, voiced their support for our country. We are hearing reports that stances are being taken across the region against the terrorist organization. Inshallah, we will very soon secure and bring peace to the area from Manbij to the Iraqi border and dissipate the dark clouds that have been looming over the Syrian people for the last 8 years. Unfortunately, they have not left Manbij although our strategic partner promised us that they would leave in 90 days. They have abandoned Manbij, 90 percent of whose population were Arab, to terrorist organizations. We know that very well. They should fulfill these first. We hereby voice our support to the steps, which will be taken by the legitimate administration that will be formed with the participation of all sides in Syria in line with its political unity and territorial integrity. Until then, we will continue to stand with the Syrian people, and address all problems of our brothers and sisters.”
“WE WILL DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO THE DAESH MEMBERS IN THE AREAS WE WILL TAKE OVER”
“We know very well that those, who keep talking about the DAESH threat today, used to give overt or covert support to this organization,” President Erdoğan underlined. Noting that Turkey has so far detained 17 thousand people, majority of whom are non-Turkish citizens, on suspicion of being linked to DAESH, President Erdoğan stated that nearly 5 500 of these people, half of whom are foreigners, are still in prison in Turkey.
“As part of the fight against DAESH, nearly 77 thousand people from 151 different countries have been banned from entering Turkey. We have deported 7 600 people from 102 countries, who made it all the way to Turkey. There are 851 people, still waiting to be deported at deportation centers.
Noting that over 3 thousand DAESH members were neutralized in Operation Euphrates Shield and over 4 600 terrorists in Operation Olive Branch, President Erdoğan said: “We neither want DAESH to trouble us ever again nor desire the world, European countries in particular, to suffer from such a scourge. Therefore, we will do what needs to be done to the DAESH members in the areas we will take over. Those, who must be kept in prison, will be kept in prison. We will send them back to their countries if accepted. We will work to reintegrate the remaining women and children to their society within the framework of a rehabilitation program.”
“THE TURKISH NATION HAS NEVER SYSTEMATICALLY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AN ETHNIC OR RELIGIOUS MINORITY”
“The Turkish nation has never systematically discriminated against an ethnic or religious minority. If that had been the case, the demographic structure in Anatolia would have changed a thousand times over the last thousand years,” President Erdoğan said. “All ancient people, faiths, cultures continue to live in our region.”
