Hakan Fidan responds to the question, 'Will the PKK be completely liquidated?'

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan evaluated the hot developments on the agenda on tv100.

Here are the highlights from Hakan Fidan's statements:

"Our visit to Syria was an important one. A new era began in Syria on December 8th of last year. While it brought a great historical opportunity, it also became the starting point for many problems for the Syrian people and the region. The new administration and the Syrian people were left alone with the remnants of a leader who had left the country in poverty, impossibility, and hunger, and the system is currently trying to get back on its feet. It needs all kinds of support from both the international community and us as neighbors.

This is our historical responsibility. It is important to provide them with all kinds of support using the capabilities of a modern state. On the other hand, as Turkey, we have vital interests, primarily our security. There were terrorist organizations that abused the conditions in which Syria found itself. There are other issues that need to be discussed, such as reviewing current developments and other topics that need to be brought to the agenda between the two countries. Such as energy and aid... We discussed all of these. It was a good and productive visit. Our Minister of Defense and our MIT (National Intelligence Organization) Chief were with me. We held detailed discussions on these issues as well.

DETAILS OF HAKAN FİDAN'S JORDAN VISIT

We were in Jordan last week. The foundations of the platform against DAESH, for which Turkey had previously established the framework, were laid there. Syria is an important pillar of this. We held discussions regarding this. We looked at the technical specifications and certain parameters of the new mechanism. Then, we went over the agreement reached between the Damascus administration and the YPG. Along with this, we also looked closely at regional security issues.

CONFLICTS IN SYRIA...

We had previously warned about provocations regarding this issue. This will not be the first or the last. Administrative and political measures against such provocations are important. We see that this provocation is a project aimed at provoking the Nusayri segment. It is an issue where elements of the old regime attacked government units with a trap, killed a certain number of soldiers, and subsequently, civilian elements became involved from both sides. Especially in a place where there is Nusayri and Sunni sensitivity, it is clear that there is a wound so open to provocation when the wounds of a society that has experienced some pain in its recent history are still so fresh.

When the new administration did not adopt such a revanchist attitude and displayed a sensible, reasonable approach, some circles that did not find what they hoped for organized the provocation themselves. The approach of the Shara administration regarding the fact that those responsible for this provocation would be found and that these attacks would in no way be accepted was also quite important.

As Turkey, this has been our call from the very beginning. We are talking about an understanding in which all social segments should embrace each other as a result of the constitutional framework.

THE SDF JOINING THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT

What we have been saying from the very beginning was this: The new Syrian administration needs to take the initiative to end the YPG occupation and piracy. Our suggestion to the new administration has always been to grant the rights of the Syrian Kurds. Unfortunately, this was not achieved during the Assad era. Now there is such a historical opportunity. In return, it is essential for everyone involved in unofficial terrorist activities in the region to step out of the equation, for life to return to normal, and for all influences to return to a normal life.

In the 21st century, it is no longer acceptable for weapons to bleed on our border in a world where everyone lives in happiness and prosperity. There are security issues that are sensitive to us. Especially regarding the YPG, everything, including future schemes, can be on the agenda. If there is an agreement signed in good faith, let it be fulfilled. However, there may be mines laid there for the future. As Turkey, we are watching this closely. Hopefully, there will be a transition to normal life in peace without too much bloodshed, and terrorism will end.

CLAIMS OF AUTONOMY FOR KURDS IN SYRIA

We do not think there is a concession regarding the search for autonomy or self-governance. This is neither a contemporary nor a good thing. It is not good at all in our geography.

When you make someone autonomous, you are already treating them differently. I have never understood for years what benefit this language is trying to bring to whom. This is not a kindness.

Everyone should feel that they are a special part of a greater prosperity with equal opportunities, without feeling like a minority. If you make a group autonomous in our geography, they cannot benefit from the remaining prosperity.

The administration in Syria does not have such an understanding either. I do not think the demand of the Kurds there is in this direction.

IS TURKEY THE MAIN ACTOR IN SYRIA?

We need to review some definitions. You define your interest in a subject, and the realization of this interest is important to you. At the end of the day, what is important for us is the realization of the goals we have set. The symbolism that emerges while this is being realized and the production of debate over it is a somewhat poor understanding. We have a broader view. Also, when you make this an agenda of local politics, there is no way out of here.

We want to see results in a geography somewhere; it is important that this emerges. Turkey has a political vision in its own region. Our political vision is a vision where conflicts in the region end and the economy develops. While these are happening, the results Turkey wants to see in Syria, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Gaza are very important. We can say that Turkey plays a role in all of these to varying degrees.

Elements stuck in domestic politics in Turkey are saying some narrow sentences regarding foreign policy.

WILL THE PKK BE COMPLETELY LIQUIDATED?

With the call made from Imrali, the founding leader of the organization said that the time for the organization to dissolve itself has come and gone. This is an issue that also aligns with current realities. We hope the organization heeds this call. As a state, we have been saying this for years anyway.

A structure that does not see the environment where the democratic atmosphere in Turkey has borne fruit for the last 15 years and still continues with the old methods of the Cold War era should have questioned itself and dissolved long ago. In fact, this process was entered in 2013. But they deceived the organization by showing as if it had some opportunities in Syria. The organization knows who the regional actors were who misled them at that time.

In the part of this event that concerns the struggle, Turkey is many times ahead compared to 10 years ago. There are new understandings and technologies we have developed in this process. We were not only in the fight against terrorism but also in more than one war at the same time. Coming to today, the call made should be heeded, and this should be seen as a historical opportunity, and the organization needs to start the process of dissolving itself.

"WE ARE READY FOR ANY SCENARIO"

We will do what we have been doing for years. We will continue to strengthen and advance our democracy and fight our enemies with the most destructive power. Now, the organization's leaders also need to respond to the call from Imrali and get rid of this so that the political wing can also get rid of a guardianship. DEM has been trying to engage in politics under a guardianship for a long time. There is an element trying to engage in politics under the guardianship of the organization's armed terrorist elements. It is never possible to say that there is a real political problem. I believe that if they evaluate this window of opportunity, it will be a great opening for Turkey and the region. If they take a step towards not evaluating this, if others mislead them as they did in 2013, that is their own business. We are ready for any scenario.

“TRUMP’S STEPS HAVE PANICKED THE EUROPEANS”

What I meant by my statement to the Financial Times, “The genie is out of the bottle,” was this: When we look at some arguments, rhetoric, and actions that the US has brought to the agenda in its relations with Europe over Ukraine, we see that an irreversible point has been entered for European actors. This was an issue that we had been voicing in certain circles as a scenario for the last few years, but we see that this possibility has been realized very quickly in the last 3 months.

Europeans see this: They have long tied their own security to the US. It is already seen that if you remove this protective circle of the US, everything will fall apart. But the Europeans thought they had been doing this themselves for many years. Now that the US says it can withdraw this protective umbrella, these steps taken by Trump have made the Europeans even more panicked. By making a rational deduction, they decided that they could not tie their security 100% to the US. In the medium and long term, a situation has begun where they develop the capabilities provided by the US themselves and aim to reduce dependency on the US regarding security. When I said the genie is out of the bottle, I meant this.