A Turkish Defence Ministry source said on Thursday that Turkey’s presence in neighbouring Syria is aimed at preventing the war-torn country from falling under the influence of terrorist groups, after Damascus said earlier that the withdrawal of troops was not a precondition for better ties with Ankara.
The Turkish military and Turkmen-backed rebel groups control large parts of northern Syria, and Ankara has launched repeated cross-border offensives since 2016, mainly to clear the area of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which it backs but distrusts.
Turkiye views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which dominates the SDF, as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it considers a “terrorist” group. “Turkiye’s presence in Syria prevents the division of Syrian territory and the creation of a terrorist corridor there,” a ministry source told reporters on condition of anonymity. The same source added, “We want to see a democratic and prosperous Syria, not a Syria plagued by instability and terrorist organizations.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – who backed rebel efforts to oust Syria’s Bashar al-Assad – has sought a rapprochement with Damascus in recent months, and invited Mr Assad to visit Turkey. Mr Assad said on Sunday that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from his region was not a condition for reconciliation.