Erdogan on Syria: We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his tour of the Arabian Gulf this week -- which brought him to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- had presented a "golden opportunity" for fostering warmer Turkish-Gulf relations.

Erdogan made the remarks in two interviews conducted earlier this week by Qatar’s al-Arab newspaper and Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiyya television channel.

"I deeply believe that Turkey and the Gulf states will together take the necessary measures for ensuring the region’s stability," Erdogan told al-Arab newspaper.

In response to a question on whether coordination between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the Syria conflict would turn the balance in favor of the Syrian opposition, he said: "Since the conflict began in 2011, we have coordinated closely with the Gulf States with a view to restoring peace and security for the Syrian people and ending the bloodshed there."

"My tour of the region… represents a golden opportunity to establish closer bilateral relations and exchange views on critical regional issues, especially the Syrian file," he added.

Erdogan told the al-Arabiyya television channel: " Raqqa is the main stronghold of the Daesh terrorist group. We, as members of the coalition, can achieve our objectives by expelling Daesh from the city. I have said this to U.S. President Donald Trump and to many others."

"If we succeed in liberating Raqqa from Daesh," he went on, "we can hand over liberated areas to our Arab brothers, which would contribute to achieving stability there. But we are in dire need of support from the Gulf States, especially Saudi Arabia."

As for Russian-Turkish-Iranian coordination on Syria, Erdogan told al-Arab newspaper: "Russia has had a military presence in Syria since September 2015, Iran wields enormous influence over the Shia militias allied with the Syrian regime… and Turkey has a long border with Syria and hosts 3 million Syrian refugees."

He added: "These three countries play very important roles in the quest for a multilateral solution in Syria. Achieving peace in Syria will be of enormous benefit to the Syrian people; it is also in the interest of the three above-mentioned countries."

"The ceasefire in Aleppo and recent peace talks in Astana were also very important steps towards resolving the Syria crisis. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Erdogan asserted.

"We must not let this light go out; rather, we should encourage it with a view to ending the crisis. Upcoming talks in Geneva, to be held later this month, will be very significant in achieving this goal," he said.