In an op-ed article for the New York Times, a day before he was due to meet US National Security Adviser John Bolton, Erdogan said Turkey was committed to defeating ISIS and “other terrorist groups” in Syria.
Turkey has a plan to restore peace in Syria and has "no argument" with Syrian Kurds, Erdogan added.
“President Trump made the right call to withdraw from Syria. The United States withdrawal, however, must be planned carefully and performed in cooperation with the right partners to protect the interests of the United States, the international community and the Syrian people,” Erdogan wrote.
“Turkey, which has NATO’s second largest standing army, is the only country with the power and commitment to perform that task.”
Erdogan also warned that the international community should avoid making the same mistakes as in Iraq.
“The lesson of Iraq, where this terrorist group (ISIS) was born, is that premature declarations of victory and the reckless actions they tend to spur create more problems than they solve,” he wrote.
“The first step is to create a stabilization force featuring fighters from all parts of Syrian society. Only a diverse body can serve all Syrian citizens and bring law and order to various parts of the country.”
On Sunday, Bolton added a new condition to the US withdrawal from Syria, saying Turkey must agree to protect the United States’ Kurdish allies, who are seen as enemies by Ankara.
Based on Reuters
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