“We find this proposal not very realistic,” Cavusoglu told a press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Ankara. “This does not concern Turkey alone, there are now the (Syrian) regime, Russia and other actors in this area.”
Cavusoglu called on the international community to focus instead on “humanitarian issues” and “eliminating terror” in Syria.Maas reiterated that he does not support Kramp-Karrenbauer’s proposal either, admitting: “Everyone says it is not a realistic proposal… There is no time for theoretical debates for the people in Syria.”
Turkey launched its offensive in northeastern Syria this month, mainly targeting the Syrian Kurdish militia, which it considers as terrorists. The offensive was halted after a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States.
Maas has described the offensive as an “invasion” and Germany has said it will not issue any new permits for military equipment that could be used in Syria by Turkey.
Turkey is disturbed by German criticism of the offensive, Cavusoglu said, adding that Ankara expects Berlin to “act with the spirit of alliance” and “side with Turkey in its fight against terrorism.”
Maas said Ankara reassured Berlin that it will comply with international law as part of Turkey’s plans to relocate as many as 2 million Syrian refugees to a “safe zone” in northeast Syria. Turkey will handle the situation in a “humanitarian way”, Cavusoglu said.
Refugee advocacy group Pro Asyl on Saturday called for an end
to the accord between the European Union and Turkey that aims
to stem migrant flows.
“There is no protection there — neither for Syrians nor for Afghan refugees nor for Turkish members of the opposition,” Guenter Burkhardt, the head of Pro Asyl, said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey would “clear terrorists” on its border in northern Syria if Syrian Kurdish militia did not withdraw by the end of a deadline agreed with Russia.
“If the terrorists are not cleared at the end of the 150 hours, we will take control and clean it ourselves,” Erdogan said during a televised speech in Istanbul, referring to the YPG militia viewed as a “terrorist” offshoot of Kurdish insurgents in Turkey.
Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed a deal in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday in which Moscow will “facilitate the removal” of the fighters and their weapons from within 30 kilometres of the border. The deadline ends at 6 pm local time on Tuesday.
Despite his threat, Erdogan said Turkey had “to a large extent” reached its goal in terms of setting up a “safe zone” to protect against attacks from the IS group and the Kurdish YPG militia.
Turkey has repeatedly criticised American support to the YPG, who spearheaded the fight against IS under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) banner.
For Ankara, the YPG is as dangerous as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara, the US and the European Union.
“If there is no support for the projects we are developing for between one and two million in the first stage for their return, we will have no option but to open our doors, and let them go to Europe,” he warned.
After similar threats were accused of being blackmail, Erdogan insisted he was “not blackmailing anyone” but “putting forward a solution”.
— dpa/AFP
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