Turkey’s Foreign Minister: On whose authority are you urging Turkey to withdraw from Syria?

In the joint press meeting with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said "In diplomacy, the word 'urge' refers to scorning. On whose authority are you urging Turkey to withdraw from Syria?"
Wednesday, 14 October 2020 09:42

There was a tension in the joint press meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde.

“We find the ceasefire calls of the international community reasonable but if there will also be a call for Armenia to withdraw (), then we can see the intention of the international community to solve this issue. However, there is no call for it” Çavuşoğlu said, referring to the conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Also, in response to Linde’s remarks about urging Turkey to withdraw troops from Syria, Çavuşoğlu said, “ In diplomacy, the word of 'urge' refers scorning. On whose authority are you urging Turkey to withdraw from Syria? We have no thought of dividing Syria, but you are supporting PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) that wants to divide Syria."

On the contrary to the Turkish Minister's statements, the Syrian government warned Turkey several times about its presence on the Syrian soil. In his latest statements, Syrian President Assad said that the actions of Turkey and the United States Syria are considered as an occupation.

In response to criticisms about Turkish presence in Syria, “Turkish presence is not permanent in Syria, our presence in Syria will come to an end when the crisis is permanently resolved”, the Turkish President stated earlier. Despite Turkey says that for many years, it is known that Turkey drags solution of the crisis into a deadlock by supporting armed groups that endeavor to overthrow the government