Foreign Minister Fidan: Syrians need to return to their country

Minister Fidan gave an interview to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based television channel Sky News Arabia regarding developments in the Middle East, as well as Turkey's relations with Syria and Iraq, with a focus on Israel's attacks on Gaza and ceasefire negotiations.

"THERE IS A TREMENDOUS MOBILIZATION"

When asked at what stage Turkey is in the diplomatic traffic conducted to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Minister Fidan replied, "Unfortunately, all of humanity is watching a genocide in which all human rules are being trampled upon, live on air. There is an intense effort to stop this.

There is a tremendous mobilization in the world to heal the wounds of the people of Gaza, and there is a tremendous mobilization for the recognition of the State of Palestine. All of these are happening at the same time. As Turkey, we are trying to provide all the support we can to all parties regarding a ceasefire. We also have contacts with Hamas on this issue; we are talking. Both our intelligence and our ministry are involved in intense diplomatic traffic. Our goal is for this war, this massacre, to stop as soon as possible. We are working for this."

Stating that the obstacle to ending the conflict in Gaza is Netanyahu's political goals, Minister Fidan noted that the Palestinian side has taken very significant steps in accepting the terms of the agreement. Stating that the allegations that Hamas leaders were expelled from Doha do not reflect the truth, Minister Fidan gave the following answer to the question of whether Turkey would potentially host them if the issue came to the agenda:

“Turkey recognizes Hamas as a political party. Since we recognize all political parties in Palestine, just as we recognize all Palestinian parties under the umbrella of the State of Palestine, we also recognize Hamas as a political party. The military struggle of the Palestinian resistance with Israel is another dimension, but there is no question of them leaving Doha at the moment.”

"TURKEY IS READY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY"

Reminding that Turkey has proposed a guarantor mechanism in case of an agreement on a two-state solution, Fidan said, "The opponents of the two-state solution, that is, those who oppose it, always say this: 'Well, how will this be implemented? How will Israel's security be ensured?' Yes, if a state is also given to the Palestinians, we have talked to other Islamic countries, we have talked to other countries, and we, including Turkey, are ready to take responsibility for the survival of this state and the peace agreement. We have no problem with this."

"WE HAVE A PERSPECTIVE THAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN THE REGION FROM THE ROOT"

Noting that relations with Arab countries have reached an excellent level, Minister Fidan said, "As Turkey, we are working both to take our relations to a very advanced level and to avoid other types of crises, especially security crises, because there are many lessons learned from recent history.

Look, there was an occupation in Iraq, a civil war broke out in Syria. You know the events in Yemen. Currently, Gaza and all countries in the region are on edge. Everyone has a security need. Everyone has steps they are taking on the path to development.

We have a perspective that will solve the security problem in the region from the root, especially by forming an alliance with Arab countries as Turkey, to address this security need," he assessed.

"SYRIANS NEED TO RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRY SAFELY"

Expressing that steps are desired to be taken at certain points with Syria, just as in Turkey's normalization processes with brotherly and friendly countries in the region, Minister Fidan used the following expressions:

“Our President has already announced the policy at the highest level on this matter. We are ready to engage in all kinds of dialogue, including at the Presidential level, to resolve the existing problems between us. This is a very valuable and important call. Because there is a need to come together and talk to solve problems. We have had meetings conducted through various channels since 2017, there have been multilateral environments, and there are discussions held in these environments, and there have been moments when we have seen the benefits of these. First of all, look, for the last 6-7 years, there has been no conflict between the Syrian opposition and the regime in Syria. Secondly, more refugees from Syria are not currently going to regional countries and the world. 

The Syrian regime has had an opportunity during this process to address its infrastructure problems, economic problems, and some political problems. There is no war because things are quiet. Of course, we need to turn this temporary situation into a more permanent one. Because as you know, there are millions of people who had to leave Syria for regional countries and are worried about their lives. They went to Jordan, they went to Lebanon, they went to Gulf countries, 1 million refugees went to Europe, and a few million came to Turkey.

More than half of the millions of Syrians are currently outside their country. They need to return to their country safely. Secondly, the issue of terrorism needs to be cleared from Syria. In particular, there are Arab lands largely occupied by the PKK, and there are oil facilities it has seized. There is an organization that usurps the resources of the Syrian people. So, we need to fight this, take the oil and energy resources in its hands, and give them back to the Syrian people. Because with the money they earn and the wealth they steal, they are in a massive war against both the Syrian people and the Turkish state.”

Regarding a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Assad, Minister Fidan said, "Our President has made such an offer, so we are also working on this issue. It is too early to say anything now, but I am working on it."

"PKK HAS BECOME IRAQ'S NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEM"

Emphasizing that the common perspective of Ankara and Baghdad is to eliminate terrorism, Minister Fidan said, "As Turkey, we have consistently made constructive contributions to ensure both political stability and life safety in Iraq. Now, the PKK has been one of the main actors taking advantage of this chaos in Iraq for 20 years. The PKK's goal was to destabilize Turkey and occupy Turkey by basing itself in Iraq. But what happened?

It couldn't do anything in Turkey, now it is occupying Iraq. It has occupied approximately one-third of the Kurdish region in Iraq. It has occupied Sinjar, there is a PKK presence in Kirkuk, there is a PKK presence in Sulaymaniyah, there is a PKK presence in Qandil. Now the PKK is surrounding every part of Iraq like a cancer cell. This has ceased to be our problem and has become a national security problem for Iraq. When we sit down and talk with Sudani, we always say this; we prioritize policies aimed at the development of Iraq, and especially the Development Road in Iraq, which is a very important project. 

For the first time, Iraq is coming to the agenda with a positive agenda. And we support Sudani, and we congratulate the parties there. We support this issue to the end as well. When our President went there, he signed 27 agreements. We want Iraq to come together with a positive agenda, but think about the development project, it will start from the Persian Gulf, pass through Iraq, come to Turkey, and go to Europe. The United Arab Emirates is a signatory, Qatar is a signatory, other countries are also considering it.

Turkey is a signatory, Iraq is a signatory. Now, for us to bring investors to this region, there must be security. If there are uncontrolled terrorist groups, if armed elements like the PKK have occupied certain places, you cannot bring investors here. We are in unity of perspective with the Iraqi government on this issue. That is, the region must be a place cleared of weapons, cleared of terrorists, and cleared of conflict. Whether it is DAESH, they must be destroyed, or whether it is the PKK, they must be destroyed. The suffering of the Iraqi people is enough. That is, Iraq has a great need for investment and basic services, and the Sudani government is trying to do this. We are also trying to realize this together with them. One of the conditions for this is to eliminate terrorism," he said.

Evaluating Turkey-Egypt relations, Fidan stated that he would pay an official visit to Cairo in August before Egyptian President Sisi's visit to Ankara, and said, "Our preparations are going well, that is, we are about to complete the preparations. I will have a visit to Cairo at the beginning of August, hopefully. There, we will meet with our new Egyptian colleague and make preparations for the meeting that will take place between the two leaders. As you know, our President had gone to Cairo, now we will host Sisi in Ankara as well," he included.

"WE HAVE CONTACT WITH HAFTAR"

Stating that relations with eastern Libya are progressing positively, Minister Fidan said, "We desire the realization of an integrated, independent, sovereign Libyan state where both the east and the west unite. At this point, we already have relations with the west, and we are also advancing our relations with the east. The Speaker of the Parliament in the east, Aguila Saleh, has come to our country several times. We have contact with Haftar, we are meeting with his sons. We have opened our consulate general in the east, we are currently putting it into service. That is, all kinds of relations are continuing, but we are currently looking at how we can use this relationship of ours to bring the east and the west together," he said.

News Source: İHA