Erdogan was speaking to reporters at the airport in Ankara on Tuesday morning before leaving for the Black Sea resort of Sochi to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss Turkey’s operation against Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), among other issues.
“Some of the statements about the operation have caused serious sadness to me, of course these voices are outside the government and we will pursue this issue seriously” the Turkish broadcaster TRT quoted Erdogan saying. “Not [President] Rouhani himself but some of his close friends have issued oppositional statements… Mr. Rouhani should have prevented these statements.”
Erdogan reminded his Iranian counterpart that he should not forget “Erdogan’s stance,” referring to his taking Iran’s side in its dispute with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“Iran is part of the Astana process and taking such a position against a member of the process is not right. How are the countries guaranteeing the Astana process supposed to continue their work?” Erdogan asked. The Astana process refers to ongoing peace talks between Syrian rebel groups and a government delegation that first took place in December 2016, sponsored by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Erdogan has been in the crosshairs since he ordered an invasion of northern Syria, attacking the SDF on October 7 following a phone call with US President Donald Trump. Turkey says the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the SDF, are the Syrian extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has fought the Turkish state for decades, seeking more rights for Kurds inside the country.
His invasion triggered a wave of criticism from world leaders, including officials in Tehran who called for the Turkish forces to leave Syria and respect the territorial integrity of the country.
“The imperative now is to end the incursion into #Syria & address all concerns through #ADANA,” said Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter on October 15.
The imperative now is to end the incursion into #Syria & address all concerns through #ADANA.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 15, 2019
Meanwhile, it is essential that the core principles of JUS IN BELLO are fully observed: distinction between civilians and combatant, & prohibition on inflicting unnecessary suffering.
Zarif was echoing President Erdogan, who said on January 25: “We don’t need an invitation from anyone [to enter Syria], we have ensured the right [in] the Adana Agreement in 1998.”
The two-decade old Adana Agreement followed Turkish threats to attack Syria in 1998 if then Syrian President Hafez al-Assad did not end his support for the PKK, which was using Syria as a base, and expel the group‘s leader, Abdullah Ocalan. The agreement was signed and Ocalan was expelled from the country. He was detained by Turkish commandos the following year and remains imprisoned.
The Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria has displaced over 300,000 people with over 200 civilians killed, including 22 children.
Erdogan threatened on Sunday that he would resume his invasion and crush the heads of the Kurdish fighters if they do not retreat from the border towns of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tel Abyad) by Tuesday night. US Vice President Mike Pence negotiated a ceasefire on Thursday with Erdogan that gave the Kurdish forces five days to pull away from the border.
Syrian Kurdish officials have accused Erdogan of intending to carry out an ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish people and populate the area with Arab Syrians who are currently refugees in Turkey.
Ilham Ahmed, co-head of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, met with a group of US senators on Monday, seeking to prop up support for the Kurds and convince Washington to keep some troops in Syria, alongside the SDF.
“After our meeting with Ilham Ahmed, we’re even more worried about the situation unfolding in northeastern Syria. Right now, Congress must come together to maintain an adequate U.S. troops in Syria, ensure air support, and impose sanctions against Turkey,” Chris van Hollen the senator for Maryland, said on Twitter. “She described the horrible situation that demands action. We stand with Ilham during her emergency mission to ask Congress to act.”
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