Commenting on the recent bombing that hit the Taksim area in Istanbul, Turkey, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that Syria condemns terrorism wherever it is. He warns the Turkish administration against any exploitation of this incident and not to invoke such events to carry out activities or steps that may worsen the current situation.
In a special statement to Al-Watan on the sidelines of the celebration held by the Algerian embassy in Damascus on Tuesday, on the occasion of the sixty-eighth anniversary of the outbreak of the Algerian revolution, and in response to a question about what happened in Istanbul and the subsequent Turkish statements that Ankara intends to pursue what it called “Kurdish targets in northern Syria”, Mekdad stressed that Syria condemns terrorism wherever it is and there is still no information about the incident that took place in Istanbul. He said: “If the Turkish administration wants to exploit such incidents against Syria, they know that they are the ones who sent terrorists to Syria, tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of whom they sent. They should not use such events as an excuse to carry out activities or steps that may worsen the status quo.”
AANES Condemns Istanbul Explosion, Rejects Turkey’s Accusations
Minister Mekdad pointed out that Turkey, until this moment, is the one who cuts off water to our people in Hasakeh. More than a million and a few thousand of our people in Hasakeh suffer as a result of the Turkish position. He said: “I say as a result of the Turkish position, and I know that Turkey did not allow experts to reach the Alouk station.”
Minister Mekdad added: “On this basis, we tell the Turkish administration that the people of Syria are not oblivious to their conspiracies and that we understand the message. Syria will defend every speck of its soil.”
Regarding the statements of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu about the possibility that Turkey will consider raising the level of relations with Syria from the security level to the diplomatic level, Mekdad said: “We listen to their statements, but this can start with the elimination of terrorism, not supporting terrorism, military withdrawal from Syrian territory, and stopping any support for Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS. These are all steps that prove the true intentions of this Turkish administration, despite all the talks that took place during the last period.”
A Turkish official announced Ankara’s intention to pursue targets in northern Syria after completing an operation against PKK militants in northern Iraq.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
