Turkey Says Supports Political Solution that Protects Syria's Unity

Arab World

April 1st, 6:39am

Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazzak

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chairs a meeting of National Security Council at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on March 30, 2021. (AA)

Turkey’s National Security Council has called on actors in Syria to halt actions that could worsen the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country, stressing the importance of achieving permanent and sustainable peace that preserves Syria's political unity. In a three-hour meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in AnkaraTuesday, Turkish officials discussed foreign policy, terrorism and regional developments. During the meeting, they affirmed that Ankara would support any initiative that bolsters peace and stability in Syria and the region. This came as Turkish forces combed the Latakia-Aleppo international road in the countryside of Idlib province, for the second day in a row, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. On Tuesday, SOHR activists said Turkish forces were running a patrol on Latakia-Aleppo international highway “M4”, as the patrol set off from Tarnabeh village in the east of Idlib and headed to Jisr Al-Shughour in the western countryside of Idlib. Meanwhile, in the western countryside of Raqqa, the Observatory said oil tankers were seen entering from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to regime-held areas through the crossing of Al-Tabqa. The crossing has been closed for ten days to the commercial and civil movements due to the Russian-Iranian differences. The Observatory said hundreds of tanks used to enter daily, but now only dozens of tanks enter since its closure on March 22 due to the conflict between the Russian and Iranian factions. Moreover, oil tanks from SDF-held areas in the eastern Euphrates continue to reach areas controlled by the “Euphrates Shield” operating room factions. The tanks wait in queue daily near Manbij to enter the areas held by faction in Jarabulus, northeast of Aleppo, according to the Observatory.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2893791/turkey-says-supports-political-solution-protects-syrias-unity