After Trump's statement
Turkey: Assad’s overthrow “not a hostile takeover”
Turkey has rejected statements by US President-elect Donald Trump in which he described the overthrow of ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria as a "hostile takeover" by Turkey. "We would not call it a takeover because it would be a serious mistake" to portray the events in Syria in this way, said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen "For the Syrian people, it is not a takeover," Fidan continued in an interview with the Al-Jazeera channel. "I think if it is a takeover at all, it is the will of the Syrian people who are now taking over." Trump had said on Monday that Turkey had done this "smartly": "Turkey has completed a hostile takeover without many lives being lost," he told journalists.
Fighters led by the Islamist HTS militia conquered Damascus on December 8, ending Assad's decades-long rule in Syria. The ousted president, who is accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering dissidents, fled to Russia.
Turkey emphasizes cooperation
Since the early days of the mass protests against Assad in 2011, Turkey has been seen as a key supporter of the opposition to the former ruler. Millions of Syrians fled to Turkey, the country hosted political dissidents and supported groups fighting against the Syrian government's army.
Turkey will learn "enormous lessons"
Fidan said it would be incorrect to portray Turkey as the power that would end up ruling Syria. "I think that would be the last thing we want, because we are learning enormous lessons from what has happened in our region, because the culture of domination itself has destroyed our region." Cooperation must be essential. "Our solidarity with the Syrian people today should not be characterized or defined as if we were actually dominating Syria. I think that would be wrong," Fidan continued.
In response to a question about rumors that Turkey might launch an offensive on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobane, Fidan said: "There is a new government in Damascus now. I think this is primarily their concern now." If they "tackle the problem properly, there is no reason for us to intervene", the Foreign Minister explained.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Da dieser Artikel älter als 18 Monate ist, ist zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt kein Kommentieren mehr möglich.
Wir laden Sie ein, bei einer aktuelleren themenrelevanten Story mitzudiskutieren: Themenübersicht.
Bei Fragen können Sie sich gern an das Community-Team per Mail an forum@krone.at wenden.