Ankara, Dec. 16 (SANA) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel’s hostile practices against Syria constitute “the biggest obstacle” to the country’s long-term security and stability, Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Conference of Turkish Ambassadors around the world in Ankara, Erdogan said: “The Israeli aggressive practices against Syria currently constitute the biggest obstacle to the security and stability of this country in the long term,” criticizing what he described as international silence over the massacres and atrocities committed against the Syrian people over the past years.
Erdogan said that throughout more than 13 years of massacres in Syria, “the voice of those who claim to defend democracy and human rights was not heard, except for countries that possess a living conscience.” He added that enabling all components of Syria to look to their future with confidence is only possible through “a vision based on a shared history and a shared future.”
The Turkish president stressed that Turkey has no option but to remain strong in order to defend its interests and extend assistance to “its brothers,” pointing to what he described as strong relations between Turkey, Syria and other regional countries.
Erdogan also warned that delays in implementing the agreement reached between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on March 10 carry “serious risks.”
Under the March 10 agreement, the Syrian government and the SDF agreed on the latter’s integration into state institutions, while reaffirming Syria’s territorial unity and rejecting division.
Erdogan had earlier said, upon returning from an official visit to Turkmenistan last Saturday, that Turkey looks forward to achieving security, peace and prosperity for the Syrian people, adding that implementation of the March 10 agreement would strengthen Syria’s unity, territorial integrity and stability, and support its path toward a prosperous future.
