ANKARA: Turkey has no eyes on anybody’s land, but is currently carrying out an anti-terror operation in northeastern Syria for security interests, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.
“Others may have different interests in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Africa and the Balkans but Turkey is there [in Syria] only because of a common fate with our brothers and sisters,” the president said and added: “This is a virtue that those who think a few drops of oil are more important than blood.”
Erdogan highlighted that Turkey will continue to maintain its firm stance against terrorists and oppressors and will never sit on the negotiating table with the terrorists.
Noting that the world has been through radical transformations throughout centuries, Erdoğan said that the Middle East, in particular, has been through ups and downs.
“Even though the center of gravity that has been changing the world seems like it has changed in the past few centuries, this region remains to be the focus of the struggle,” the president said, adding that this puts Turkey in the center of all developments.
The president touched upon the injustice regarding the United Nations Security Council, which gives veto power to the five permanent members, often making the U.N. ineffective at times of global crises.
The TRT World Forum is taking place on Oct. 21-22 to discuss a number of global issues. This year’s theme was announced as “Globalization in Retreat: Risks and Opportunities.”
