UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS
By Asiye Latife Yilmaz, Esra Tekin and Gizem Nisa Demir
ISTANBUL - Türkiye welcomed the ceasefire reached in Syria on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, expressing hope that it would lead to a permanent resolution without further bloodshed.
Speaking to ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputies in parliament on Wednesday, Erdogan said Ankara has “from the very beginning, most strongly defended” the preservation of a single Syrian state with full territorial integrity and political unity.
The Syrian presidency announced Tuesday that it had reached an understanding with the YPG/SDF, granting the group a four-day period to work out a roadmap for the practical integration of Hasakah, during which a ceasefire will remain in effect. The YPG/SDF later said in a statement that it was fully committed to the ceasefire.
Erdogan warned that any attempt to resort to provocations in Syria from this point forward would “amount to suicide,” stressing that stability must be maintained.
"It is already impossible for the terrorist group to sustain its presence in the areas where it is trapped. From now on, it is abundantly clear that resorting to provocations would amount to suicide. With the child militants it has forcibly conscripted and civilians it has driven onto the field through pressure and violence, there is no longer any possibility of achieving a result by cowardly attacking our glorious flag, as it did yesterday at the Nusaybin–Qamishli border," he said.
“We will certainly find the dirty hands that reached out to our flag, and we will most definitely hold those traitors to account," he said about the incident.
- Integration will ‘usher in a new era’
He said full integration in Syria would “usher in a new era,” adding that the benefits of stability would be felt most by Syrian Kurds.
“We have no interest in the territory of any country and do not interfere in the internal affairs of any nation, but we will not allow our country’s interests to be compromised,” Erdogan said.
Stating that they are closely monitoring developments in Syria, Erdogan underlined that they are conducting a delicate process to eliminate existing risks directed at Türkiye, head off new threats, and rapidly establish peace and stability in Syria.
Since Syria’s Dec. 8, 2024 revolution, the country has been engaged in an "intense struggle to ensure national unity," he said.
Erdogan also spoke on the agreement signed by the SDF/YPG and the Syrian government last March 10 to make the terrorist group lay down its arms and hand over the territories it occupies to the Syrian government.
"However, the SDF did not take a single positive step within the timeline set for this integration,” he said. “Not only did the structure called the SDF fail to comply with the agreement, it continued to oppress civilians in the territories it occupies and to carry out attacks against civilian and military targets outside those areas as well. Unfortunately, the negotiations held in December between SDF leaders and the Damascus government on the implementation of the agreement yielded negative results.
"The reason for this, frankly speaking, was the uncompromising, foot-dragging, constantly escalating, and time-wasting attitude of the structure known as the SDF. Throughout this process, we conveyed the necessary advice to all parties through our relevant institutions. We made every effort to untangle the knot and prevent the crisis from turning into a hot conflict. Other actors also became involved and offered the necessary recommendations for implementation of the March 10 agreement. However, there was no change whatsoever in the maximalist stance of the structure called the SDF," he added.
-‘Kurds in Syria are our brothers and sisters’
Erdogan said that after January attacks on security forces, the Syrian Army launched legitimate operations in Aleppo and across both sides of the Euphrates, clearing the areas of illegal armed elements.
The Turkish president also said he discussed a range of issues with his US counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call, including matters “that will contribute to Syria’s security,” such as joint efforts to combat ISIS, also known as Daesh.
Declaring that “the Kurds in Syria are our brothers and sisters in the truest sense,” Erdogan said that they know better than anyone, as their brothers, the kinds of oppression Syrian Kurds faced under the previous tyrannical Assad regime.
Erdogan said that following the 2011 outbreak of the civil war in Syria, Kurds were subjected to pressure by the terrorist group.
He added that Kurdish children and young people in Syria were dragged into conflicts for the whims and ambitions of the terrorist group, handed weapons, and sent to their deaths.
“During this same period, ISIS terrorists targeted and massacred our Kurdish brothers and sisters, along with the Syrian opposition. It is also important to note that after the revolution, the new Syrian government embraced Syrian Kurds, just as it did all other religious and ethnic groups in the country, and adopted a highly constructive stance for sincere integration," he said, calling last week’s Jan. 16 declaration a "historic statement of will based on the equal and fair participation of our Kurdish brothers and sisters in Syria within the Syrian state.”
"Despite all these positive steps and constructive approaches, the terrorist organization has unfortunately chosen blood, conflict, dying, and killing instead of the prosperity and peace of the Kurds," he added.