UPDATE - Turkish President to meet Russian counterpart on Feb 14

UPDATE - Turkish President to meet Russian counterpart on Feb 14

Turkish policy on northern Syria focuses on the territorial integrity of war-torn country, says Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM PRESIDENT ERDOGAN

By Ahmet Salih Alacaci

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s President announced on Sunday he would take part in a summit with his Russian and Iranian counterparts to be held on Feb 14 in the Russian Black Sea town of Sochi on the Syrian conflict.

Speaking in an interview on national television, Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that this summit would help further improve the situation in the regions of Jerablus, Afrin and Idlib in the north and west of Syria so that refugees forced to leave the war-torn country would be able to return in larger numbers.

He added that situation in these areas was “getting better by the day,” with 300,000 refugees having returned from Turkey so far.

Turkey currently hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees, according to estimates.

Noting that steps have been taken with Russia regarding patrols around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, Erdogan announced that a Turkish delegation had returned from Russia for talks on Syria which had resulted in “positive developments.”

“I hope this positive development will lead to the exit of these [terrorist] organizations leaving this place as soon as possible and its rightful owners will come and settle in their lands,” he said.

Ruling out any potential operation into the region in the near future, he criticized Washington’s failure to leave Manbij within 90 days as previously promised.

Referring to Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria liberating the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, Erdogan stressed that had it not been for Turkey’s maneuver, these terror organizations would have been able to reach the Mediterranean Sea.

President Erdogan further underlined that Turkey’s policy on northern Syria focused on the territorial integrity of the war-torn country, adding that talks were being held at lower levels with the Syrian government.

"We don’t advocate the fragmenting of the Syrian people," Erdogan said.

He said that the Peoples’ Democratic Party in Turkey "equaled" the PKK/YPG/PYD terror group.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG/PYD is the group's Syrian branch.

On his country’s fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), Erdogan said progress may be possible for the return of the group’s U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen thanks to the efforts of the FBI.

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