Erdogan questions Russia's presence in Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned the legitimacy of the military presence of Russian Federation in Syria on Thursday as a disparity between the two country's policies toward Syrian Kurds further widened.
Speaking to CNN Turk news channel, Erdogan said "nobody" could tell Turkey to withdraw its army from northern Syria where it entered in summer 2016 in an incursion against the Islamic State (IS) to deny US-backed Kurdish groups further territorial gains.
"Say what? The [Syrian] regime invited them. Not all invitations should be honored. There is no such thing in world politics," said Erdogan in a veiled criticism of Russia whose military intervention in Syria on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad began in September 2015.
"Who does this disturb? It disturbs us most. Why? We have a 911 kilometers long border with Syria. Look Daesh (IS) fired, killed one of my citizens. A soldier. Do they [Russians] have such grievances," asked Erdogan insisting any decision to pull forces from Syria belonged to his country.
Erdogan's remarks appeared to be in response to a claim by the major Hurriyet newspaper that rumors were circulating in Ankara that Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov had earlier this month "half-jokingly" told his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar it was time for his troops to depart from Syria.
"Our generals convened. Our chiefs of staff sat down and talked. We will act according to [such meetings]. We will give our final decision," said Erdogan referring to the March 7 meeting of American, Russian and Turkish top generals to discuss the situation in Syria.
The Turkish President said Russia had to speak with Turkey regarding Syria.
Erdogan's statements followed Thursday reaction from Turkish officials to Russian soldiers' pictures with Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters.
"The Russian and US interest in the terrorist YPG saddens us," Erdogan stated, revealing he told this to Vladimir Putin during their March 10 meeting in Moscow.
"Our duty in Syria does not end until these [YPG] are not cleared from those areas," he added.
Editing by Ava Homa