Türkiye recognizes HTS as a “legitimate partner” and asks the EU to remove it from the list of terrorist groups

Fidan rejects Trump’s words and rules out that Ankara seeks to “take control” of the country

Dec. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, has recognized the new Syrian administration led by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS, Levant Liberation Organization) as a “legitimate partner” for Ankara and has urged the Union European Union and the rest of the international community to remove the group from the list of terrorist organizations.

Fidan has pointed out that this is the reason why the Turkish Embassy has already reopened its doors in Damascus, the Syrian capital, and has stressed that the leader of the group, Ahmed Hussein al Shara (known as Abu Mohamed al Golani), is the “de facto leader of Syria.”

The Turkish president has stressed the importance of the new Syrian Government facing the “problem of Kurdish forces in its territory to avoid the need for Ankara to take action” given that they pose a clear “threat.” “Now there is a new administration, I think this is the main concern, and if they address things properly there will be no reason to intervene,” he said.

Likewise, the head of Turkish diplomacy has rejected the words recently spoken by the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, who has praised Anakra’s “intelligence” in taking advantage of the situation to “seize power” in Syria. “The only seizure of power that has taken place in Syria is that of the will of the people,” Fidan asserted.

Trump then highlighted Türkiye’s ability to achieve the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime “without costing many lives.” Now, the Turkish minister has stressed that it would be “a serious mistake” to describe what has recently happened in the Middle Eastern country as a “takeover by Turkey”, as he stated during an interview with the Al Jazeera television network.

“For the Syrian people, this is not a seizure of power. If there is one, it would be that of the people themselves,” he said before stating that “the last thing Turkey wants is to be seen as a regional power that seeks complete control over Syria. “This is not about Turkish, Iranian, or Arab domination, and cooperation must be paramount,” he continued.

That is why he has expressed his “solidarity” with the Syrian people, who “should not be characterized or defined as if it were the Turks who govern Syria.” “That would be wrong,” he said.