kayhan.ir

News ID: 44475
Publish Date : 22 September 2017 - 21:39
Senior Syrian Official:

Turkey, an Occupier With ‘Sinister Plans’




DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Bashar al-Assad's presidential adviser has poured scorn on Turkey's president, claiming Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "sinister plans" have allowed militants to invade the country and that his own troops are illegal occupiers in the north.
Bouthaina Shaaban also told Middle East Eye her government considered U.S.-allied Kurdish militants to be illegitimate. However, she indicated there was no intention in Damascus to confront Syrian Kurds nor Turkey militarily.
In an exclusive interview, she said: "The Syrian army and its allies are the legitimate forces fighting Daesh. Any other forces which are not cooperating with the Syrian Arab government and the Syrian army are not legitimate on our land.
"But this does not mean we are working for war or working to extend the war. We are trying our best to find a solution to all these problems."
Turkey has sent troops into northern Syria close to the border town of Jarablus, ostensibly to fight Daesh but also to prevent Kurdish forces from taking over the area.
Other Turkish personnel are expected shortly in Idlib in northwestern Syria in line with an agreement with Russia and Iran last week to set up a de-escalation zone there. Turkey and Russia will each send 500 personnel to monitor a ceasefire.
Along with Iran and Russia, Turkey is a guarantor of the so-called Astana process which has already created three other de-escalation zones in Syria. On Thursday, Erdogan said Turkey would send troops into Idlib province as part of the de-escalation plan.
Speaking before Erdogan's announcement, Shaaban said Turkey's president was the "origin" of many of the region's problems, adding that Turkey's role as an Astana guarantor "doesn't mean that what Turkey is doing in Syria is legal."
"There's a difference between the Astana process and what Turkey is doing in Syria which is to occupy territory," she said, accusing Turkey of having played a negative and dangerous role in Syria by allowing terrorists, weapons and money to cross the border.
She said the majority of remaining militants were "Muslim Brothers," whose Syrian branch took up arms against the government in the 1980s in Hama and Aleppo.
"It's a war that is mainly supported by Turkey because most of those so-called oppositionists who are embraced by Turkey are Muslim Brothers and Erdogan is a Muslim Brother," she said.
"I hope that Europeans will discover who he is before it becomes too late. I mean it. Because two years ago when Merkel came to him to discuss the issue of refugees I said she is coming to the source of the problem. He is the origin of the problem," she added.
"I'm delighted to see Germany now becoming aware of the role of Erdogan regarding the Turks in Germany. And not only Turks in Germany but Turks in Central Asia.
"Erdogan uses these Turks for his religious Brotherhood organization and I really feel that Europe and the West and the world should be aware of these sinister plans of Erdogan."
Ankara and Erdogan have rejected repeated claims that Turkey is aligned with terrorists in Syria, such as the Nusra Front and Daesh.
Turkish demands for regime change have apparently softened to ministerial statements that such a wish was "no longer realistic" and "hope" that relations could return to normal.
Her comments came as Syrian forces pressed forward against Daesh in Dayr al-Zawr, breaking a siege by Daesh against government-held areas.
In two weeks, government soldiers connected the airfield and the main part of the city which were previously separated by Daesh terroriss. Earlier this week they crossed to the east bank of the Euphrates using Russian pontoon bridges.
Two Syrian military planes landed at the airfield for the first time for three years on Sunday.
With the help of U.S. special forces, the largely Kurdish units, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, have almost completed the capture of Raqqah, the capital of Daesh’s self-styled caliphate.
Kurdish forces have been moving south from Raqqah on the east bank of the Euphrates through Dayr al-Zawrr province, in an apparent effort to reach strategic oil fields before the Syrian army.
The Syrian army's rapid advance is likely to block the Kurdish forces' plans.
On the SDF, Shaaban said: "This small force does not express the opinion of all the Kurds in Syria.
"Millions of Kurds in Syria are very good citizens who want the unity of Syria and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria."
Asked if there was a risk of clashes between the Kurds and the Syrian army, Shaaban said: "We hope not."
Sameer Suliman, a general and the deputy head of the Syrian army's political administration, made a similar point in a separate interview with Middle East Eye.
"We don't recognize the Kurdish forces and we have no coordination with them. But they are there and the U.S. supports them.
"The Syrian army is advancing towards where Daesh are and that is our right. Other parties understand that and should not put obstacles in our way," he said.
On Thursday, Russia warned that it will strike back if the positions of Syrian government forces in the Arab country come under attack by U.S.-backed militants.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Syrian troops in Dayr al-Zawr province had been twice targeted with mortar and rocket fire from the regions where U.S.-backed militants are based.
Konashenkov said Russia suspects the SDF is colluding with Daesh in Dayr al-Zawr rather than fighting it, citing the transfer of Takfiri elements from Raqqah to join forces against the advancing Syrian troops.
"SDF militants work to the same objectives as Daesh terrorists. Russian drones and intelligence have not recorded any confrontations between Daesh and the ‘third force,’ the SDF,” he said.