On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey has no intention of occupying any Syrian border. This statement came after Turkey increased its attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria’s war-torn north. Erdogan made the remarks a day after Turkish air forces attacked a Syrian border post, killing 17 Syrian regime fighters. According to a war monitor, both Kurdish and Syrian regime forces were killed in the Turkish attack. According to the official Syrian news agency, three government soldiers were killed.
Turkey stated that it was reacting to the border attack. In this attack, two Turkish soldiers were killed. It was the source of the most friction between Turkey and Syria since the mutual attacks in 2020.
Erdogan appeared to try to defuse tensions during his flight back from his first post-war trip to Ukraine. Erdogan was quoted in Turkish media as saying, “Our gaze is not drawn to the Syrian border because Syrians are our brothers. This should be made known to the Syrian government.”
Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine comes just two weeks after his visit to Sochi. Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, where the topic of Syria also came up.
Putin has continued to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad throughout the 11-year conflict. The Turkish government backs rebel groups in Syria.
Erdogan stated that he told Putin that he wanted closer cooperation with Russia in northern Syria, where Ankara regards Kurdish forces as “terrorists.”
“Russia is aware of the steps we are taking in Syria,” Erdogan said.
Tensions on the Syrian-Turkish border rose as fears grew that Turkey would launch its fourth cross-border offensive against Kurdish forces since 2016.
Erdogan has accused Syrian Kurdish forces of being terrorists who have repeatedly attacked Turkey. While the Kurdish army is working with the US to combat Islamic State jihadists.
Erdogaerated again on Friday that Turkish forces may launch a “sudden attack” on Syrian Kurds.
