Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for “neutralizing terrorist organizations” in Syria, mentioning the Islamic State (IS) group as well as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“It is time to neutralize the terrorist organizations existing in Syria,” Mr. Erdogan told the press on Friday, upon his return from a summit in Cairo.
“Daesh, the PKK and their associates, who threaten the survival of Syria, must be eradicated,” he said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym.
The leaders of Turkey and Iran met in Cairo at a summit of eight predominantly Muslim countries. This is their first meeting since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The two countries were on opposite sides in Syria’s long-running civil war, with Turkey historically supporting Mr. Assad’s opponents and Iran supporting his regime.
During their meeting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that his country “wants to see a Syria where stability and security reign” and where “terrorism is eradicated”, according to a press release from the Turkish presidency published on the night of Thursday to Friday .
He also stressed the importance of protecting “the territorial integrity and unity of Syria”.
A statement from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s office also said that “the slightest attack on Syria’s territorial integrity is under no circumstances acceptable.” He adds that Muslim countries “must act responsibly” against Israel’s “crimes” in the region.
The Cairo meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization D-8, also known as Developing-8, was held amid regional unrest, including the war in Gaza, a ceasefire fragile in Lebanon and the unrest in Syria.
In his speech at the summit, Mr. Pezeshkian said that “it is our religious, legal and human duty to prevent further harm” to those suffering in these conflict zones.
Mr. Pezeshkian is the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, but diplomatic contacts have intensified since Cairo became a mediator in the Gaza war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Egypt in October, while his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, visited Tehran in July to attend Mr. Pezeshkian’s inauguration.
Erdogan visits Egypt for the second time this year. His February trip marked his first visit to Egypt as president, following a last visit in 2012, when he was prime minister of Turkey.
Do not “undermine the territorial integrity” of Syria
The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, for her part, stressed on Friday, before a visit to Turkey, the importance of not “undermining the territorial integrity” of Syria, where pro-Turkish groups are fighting Kurdish forces. .
“If we want to achieve peace in the region, we must not undermine the territorial integrity of Syria,” she declared, quoted in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Syria must not become the toy of foreign powers, nor an experiment of radical forces,” she insisted.
During her one-day visit, the minister is scheduled to meet with her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and meet members of the Syrian diaspora in that country.
“If Syria is to be rebuilt, if people are to return, it can only work if no one fears persecution anymore. This should also be in the interest of the Turkish government, because more than three million Syrian refugees live in Turkey,” she pointed out.
The visit comes as pro-Turkish groups launched an offensive against the Manbij region in northeast Syria, controlled by Kurdish forces.
Since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, the Kurdish community in the northeast, oppressed for decades, fears losing the relative autonomy won since the start of the civil war in 2011.
With AFP
