US and Turkish forces should leave Syria "by will or by force" after the defeat of terrorists in the Arab republic, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik, equating the countries' interventions to terrorism.
"When you talk about the Turkish invasion when you talk about the American troops - again, it's an invasion - and when you talk about the terrorists on the ground, it's one entity, there's no difference. There's one master who's controlling all these factions. So, the priority now is to defeat the terrorists. When you defeat the terrorists, the Turkish army and any other army will be weak on the ground," Assad said.
He argued it would be "very easy" to drive out the Turkish and US forces after expelling their proxies, which he described as the "real strength" and "the strongest element on the ground."
"In that regard, the Americans, like the Turks, like any other occupiers, they have to get out by their will or by force ... In that regard, when you defeat the terrorists in different areas, it's going to be very easy to expel any other one including the Turks; either they leave, or it's your land, you have to defend it," Assad said.
Since 2014, the US-led coalition of over 60 nations is conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) in Syria and Iraq. The strikes in Iraq are conducted in support of the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorised by either the UN Security Council or the government of President Assad.
Ankara launched the Euphrates Shield operation in August 2016 in Syria.
'WEST USES GENEVA TALKS AS TERRORIST 'POLITICAL UMBRELLA'
The West and its allies use the Geneva process as a "political umbrella" for terrorist groups, Assad also said, characterising the platform as "still-born" because of its delays.
"First of all, our estimation of Geneva is that it hasn't started yet; till this moment, nothing, it's a still-born, it's dead," Assad said.
He contrasted Geneva to the Astana process promoted by Russia and Iran, the countries he described as "willing to achieve a peaceful solution" with respect to Syrian sovereignty, the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.
"If you look at the other party, the Western bloc with their allies in the region and their proxies, of course, they are in the other side. They are using these events only as a political umbrella for the terrorists, not for the political solution," Assad said.
