Turkey to take active role in Syria, says Yildirim
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. File photo.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Turkish Prime Minsiter Binali Yildirim, interacting with the reporters in Istanbul on Saturday, said that addressing the conflict in Syria is important for the nation and that it will take ‘more active part in Syria in the coming six months’.
“This will be done to prevent the war-torn country being divided along ethnic lines,” Yildirim told reporters.
“While Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have a role in the interim leadership, he must play no part in its future,” Yildirim further told reporters.
It may be mentioned here that the over five-year-old Syrian conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, with Kurdish groups carving out their own regions, and periodically battling groups from Syria’s Arab majority, whose priority is to overthrow Assad. Turkey is one of the main supporters of rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, and hosts more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees.
“Can Syria carry Assad in the long-term? Certainly not,” Yildirim further said, adding, “USA and Russia knows that Assad does not appear to be someone who can unite the people. We believe that there should be no Kurdish rebels, ISIS or Assad in Syria’s future.”
Meanwhile, the Turkish PM denied news reports that Russia was seeking to use Turkey’s southern air base of Incirlik for its operations in Syria. The base is currently being used by the US-led international coalition for carrying out operations against ISIS.