Erdogan Slams Opposition Over Remarks on Withdrawing from Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his re-election campaign in Adiyaman on Saturday (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his re-election campaign in Adiyaman on Saturday (Turkish Presidency)
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Erdogan Slams Opposition Over Remarks on Withdrawing from Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his re-election campaign in Adiyaman on Saturday (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his re-election campaign in Adiyaman on Saturday (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the opposition for saying it would withdraw Turkish forces from Syria if they won the elections.

Speaking at an electoral event in Istanbul, Erdogan said that the opposition wants to withdraw from the security corridors that Türkiye set up to protect its borders from terrorist organizations.

Erdogan failed to secure outright majority in the presidential race in the first round and will face the leader of the main opposition CHP, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, in the runoff vote.

Kilicdaroglu announced restoring relations with Syria if he came to power, and pledged to send back millions of Syrian refugees to their homeland within two years. He also made remarks on the presence of Turkish forces in Syria, Libya, and other regions.

Erdogan responded to Assad's demands for a Turkish withdrawal from northern Syria and normalization of ties with Türkiye, by saying "there are no obstacles to meeting Bashar Assad if the Syrian president succeeds in combating terrorist organizations on Türkiye's borders," referring to the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), which are the largest components of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In the past years, Türkiye has carried out military incursions against the Kurdish units with the support of the Syrian National Army (SNA).

Erdogan added in an interview with CNN on Friday that he had a good relationship with the Assad family, and the two families used to meet in the past, but certain developments unfolded, which led to the deterioration of the relationship.

"We have more than 900 kilometers of border, and there is a constant terror threat from those borders on our country," he said. "The only reason we have a military presence on the border is the fight against terrorism. That's the sole reason."

"(Through) my friendship with President Putin, we thought we could open a door, specifically in our fight against terrorism in the northern part of Syria, which requires close cooperation and solidarity," he said.

Erdogan has dismissed opposition calls for comprehensive deportation of refugees and said he will "encourage" around a million refugees to return to Syria instead.

He said Türkiye was building infrastructure and homes in Turkish-controlled parts of the war-torn country to facilitate their repatriation.

"Turkish NGOs are building residential units in northern Syria so that refugees here can go back to their homeland. This process has already started," he told CNN.

"We are encouraging one million refugees to go back to their homeland."



Stoltenberg Says NATO Could Have Done More to Prevent Ukraine War

NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) smiles as he meets Norway's Prime Minister (not in picture) at his residence in Oslo on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Thomas Fure / NTB / AFP)
NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) smiles as he meets Norway's Prime Minister (not in picture) at his residence in Oslo on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Thomas Fure / NTB / AFP)
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Stoltenberg Says NATO Could Have Done More to Prevent Ukraine War

NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) smiles as he meets Norway's Prime Minister (not in picture) at his residence in Oslo on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Thomas Fure / NTB / AFP)
NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) smiles as he meets Norway's Prime Minister (not in picture) at his residence in Oslo on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Thomas Fure / NTB / AFP)

NATO could have done more to arm Ukraine to try to prevent Russia's invasion in 2022, the outgoing head of the Western military alliance said in an interview released on Saturday.
"Now we provide military stuff to a war - then we could have provided military stuff to prevent the war," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German weekly newspaper FAS, according to Reuters.
Stoltenberg pointed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's reluctance to provide weapons that Kyiv had asked for before Russia's full-scale invasion because of fears that tensions with Russia would escalate.
After the war began, Kyiv, which is not a member of NATO, received one weapons system after another from its allies after initial hesitation.
Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, will step down in October from his role at NATO, which he has held since 2014. Dutch former Prime Minister Mark Rutte was announced in June as the organization's next boss.
In the interview, Stoltenberg said an end to the war in Ukraine would be achieved only at the negotiating table.
"To end this war there will have to be again dialogue with Russia at a certain stage. But it has to be based on Ukrainian strength," he said.
Stoltenberg declined to confirm that he would take over from German diplomat Christoph Heusgen as chair of the Munich Security Conference after leaving NATO. He told FAS he had "many options" and would reside in Oslo.