Erdogan Insists on Turkish Operations Against Kurds in Tehran Despite Khamenei’s Warning
Just hours after Iran’s Supreme Leader warned about Turkey’s attack on northern Syria, Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted at a trilateral summit of the leaders of Turkey, Russia, and Iran in Tehran that Ankara is determined to carry out its military operations against the Kurds in northern Syria “soon.”
According to France Press news agency, Turkey’s president on Tuesday evening, July 19th, called Kurdish forces “terrorists” and said: “It must be clear to everyone that there is no place in the region for separatist terrorist movements and their allies.”
He emphasized: “We will soon continue our fight against terrorist organizations.”
While Iran, Russia, and even the United States have previously expressed their opposition to Turkey’s attack on northern Syria, Turkey’s president said he expects Tehran and Moscow to support “this struggle.”
Turkey last attacked northern Syria in 2019, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly spoken in recent months about Turkey’s readiness for another “military operation” in northern Syria.
The two areas that Turkey now intends to attack are part of a 30-kilometer-wide buffer zone that Ankara wants to complete along the Turkey-Syria border.
At the end of May, he reminded Putin of the agreement three years ago between Ankara and Moscow, which stipulated the creation of a “terrorism-free” zone along the Turkey-Syria border.
In the final trilateral statement by Iran, Russia, and Turkey in Tehran, released on Tuesday evening, there was an implicit support for Ankara’s position against the Kurds, and any “illegitimate self-determination initiative” that could refer to Kurdish forces was rejected.
However, immediately in the same statement, without naming Turkey, there was opposition to “undermining Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” as well as “cross-border attacks and infiltrations.”
In this statement, published by IRNA news agency, alongside emphasis on “continued cooperation to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” it also stated that “the Syrian conflict has no military solution.”
International media reported that it is still unclear whether this statement represents a change in Iran and Russia’s positions regarding Turkey’s attack on northern Syria or not.
Previously, in addition to Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s consecutive trips to Ankara and then Damascus to prevent a “new crisis in the region,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also warned Erdogan on Tuesday during their meeting about Turkey’s attack on northern Syria.
Ali Khamenei told Erdogan that a military attack on northern Syria “would certainly be harmful to Syria, harmful to Turkey, and harmful to the region.”
Also, on the eve of Putin and Erdogan’s visit to Tehran, a commander of part of Syria’s Kurdish forces had asked Iran and Russia to prevent Turkey’s potential military attack on northern Syria.
Source: Radio Farda
