President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered the questions of reporters and commented on the recent developments on his return flight from a visit to Russia.
Erdoğan noted the following about his visit to Russia:
“We discussed our bilateral relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit to Moscow today. Recent incidents in Syria’s Idlib were the highest priority items on our agenda. Yet there were other items, too. We had a chance to discuss the issue of Libya. We have comprehensive and multi-dimensional relations with the Russian Federation in the fields of economy, trade, industry, tourism, and energy. In addition to addressing these topics, we also invited Mr. Putin to the High-Level Strategic Council Meeting, which we will be organizing in our country this year.
We also had the opportunity to discuss a topic that I previously raised with Mr. Putin concerning Syria. The incidents in Syria and Idlib should not affect our bilateral relations negatively. We have taken a very significant step with that mentality and agreed on a ceasefire today. The three points in the agreement are very important. Our officials are following up the situation on the ground regarding the ceasefire that came into effect at 00.01 on March 6, 2020. The ceasefire provides significant gains in several fields.
- It protects our country’s borders better against regime assaults and terrorist attacks.
- It paves the way for stability and normalization in Idlib region.
- It guarantees the safety of our soldiers there.
- It constitutes an important step for the protection of civilians.
In this context, we will continue to closely follow up the developments on the ground. I will personally follow up this process together with my counterpart as well as my Foreign Minister, National Defence Minister, and the Head of the National Intelligence Organization. We could occasionally call each other every other day to keep this ceasefire process under control and avoid changes on the ground. Our goal is to facilitate the political process in Syria under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 and put an end to the Syrian civil war. Our purpose was to ensure a ceasefire while coming here. Thank God, we managed to do it. We will surely remain vigilant against possible violations and attacks by the regime. We have robustly demonstrated our resolve on this issue by inflicting heavy losses on the regime over the past week.
As I stated, besides the Idlib ceasefire, we have also addressed the issue of Libya with Mr. Putin. Haftar’s intransigent stance in Libya is evident. Besides his failure to abide by any agreements, he is also stirring up a war. States including the United States of America, Germany, and Italy can now see this clearly. We addressed these issues with Mr. Putin. I believe that Mr. President will take a positive step particularly on the issue of Wagner. We both expect the process to be concluded in Libya with a step similar to the one we took tonight.”
Avni Özgürel: We have had pretty good relations with Russia for the last 5 years. You were also content with them. Turkey gained both economic and political advantages from it. What was it that suddenly changed Putin’s attitude since December?
There was not much of a change actually. International relations may occasionally go through such changes and ups and downs. The situation with Russia was maybe the last thing on our mind. If you would ask why; it is because our bilateral relations with Russia are like no other. We have taken steps in the defence industry, in the field of nuclear energy, under the Turkish Stream project, as well as in the field of tourism. These are extremely important. In the current phase of our bilateral relations, we are planning the steps we can take together with third countries. Some have probably tried to drive a wedge between us.
Avni Özgürel: Could it be Israel?
No. Not that weak.
Avni Özgürel: We have checkpoints. What will happen to them?
As you know, there are 12 observation points in total. These observation points are of course very important for us. Observation beyond these 12 observation points is very important, too. They will all be preserved just like they are now. There are no changes currently underway concerning the observation points.
Deniz Tüysüz: The talks culminated in a ceasefire. Although consensus has been reached, we see a process of struggle and negotiations ahead. In this context, can we say that the Idlib crisis is over altogether?
I said a while ago; we have secured our position insofar as I will be in contact with Mr. President all the time. Our Foreign Minister, National Defence Minister and the Head of our National Intelligence Organization will also sustain this relationship through regular meetings with their counterparts In case of a breach or break along the way, we will immediately interfere. Not everything is on paper between us, but some are in words. We have reaffirmed our determination in this respect.
Züleyha Cebeci: During your phone conversation with Mr. Putin, you said that you told him “Stop intermediating between us and Assad, leave us alone with the regime.” Was this statement discussed during your meeting today, was it raised? If it was, we know that the meeting yielded a favourable outcome, was this attitude of yours influential on it?
Of course, once this matter is settled amicably, there is no point in saying something like that anymore.
Hakan Çelik: In the past, Russia did not keep its promises and fulfil its commitments regarding sensitive issues. Will such a similar attitude threaten Turkey’s security on a geography extending from Libya to Syria? If the Russian Federation continues to pursue such policies, will it affect critical projects such as S400 systems?
S400 is now our property. On the one hand, training activities, etc. are ongoing about S400 systems. We have received S400 systems to a large extent. We have all of them, they have all been delivered. They will be operational starting from April. However, let me tell it again, I told it to their officials yesterday. We told the Americans, “If you sell us Patriots, we will buy Patriots from you as well.”
Hande Fırat: What is Turkey’s expectation regarding the safe corridor to be established 6 km to the north and 6 km to the south of M4? Because, we wanted a no-fly zone, too. What is your request in this respect? The second question is: How will the problem on M5 highway be solved? As a result, it is evident that there is no confidence in the Assad regime. How will Russia restrain it? Did they discuss it with Assad during the talks?
A safe corridor 6 meters to the north and 6 meters to the south of the M4 highway will be established. We will also initiate a patrolling system with them in this corridor. This shows the cooperation between Turkey and Russia. The regime will not resist any orders from Russia in these areas. We have indeed completed our works today. Steps regarding the ceasefire have been taken as soon as possible and it has been enforced as of 00.01 hours, 6 March 2020. Everything was on course, so the agreement was signed. Our Defence Ministers signed the agreement. Our Foreign Ministers made the statement and they will work here for about a week regarding the principles and procedures of it.
Meryem İlayda Atlas: I want to ask a question about refugees. It was mentioned both in the memorandum and during the press conference. Yet, there is a state of emergency on the ground. You had referred to brick houses previously. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are in dire conditions to the north of Idlib. The European Union had provided assistance on that when there was a crisis. Similarly, you had previously called on the international community to build a safe zone in the area between Ras al-ayn and Tal Abyad. Will there be any assistance from international donors there, will there be any construction works in the safe zone there immediately?
Unfortunately, the West has many faces. They instantly promised €700 million to Greece. They said, “We shall send €350 million now, and €350 million later.” Let alone €700 million, the Chancellor talked about €25 million, but we have not heard of it yet unfortunately. Both the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also made some promises. I do not know if anything comes out of them or not, but they had some meetings with our Minister. Even if anything comes or not, we are not in such a bad shape. We will handle it if God allows. For instance, we must take press members to the area where those brick houses are being built. They need to see them. These are constructions measuring 25-30 square meters. We want our Syrian brothers and sisters to live there under better conditions, in other words, we want them to be more comfortable. According to circumstances, we can arrange different teams and complete these brick houses as soon as possible, and make sure that people are settled in there.
Okan Müderrisoğlu: From the moment the open-door policy was adopted, you made an observation, saying that you connected Idlib to Europe. Regarding this observation of yours, which steps of the European Union will lead to a process in which this open-door policy will be reviewed? Or is this now a point of no return?
First and foremost, we have no time in this process to discuss with the Greek side whether the open door is now closed. It is over now. We have opened the doors. The refugees can go as far they could. We are not forcing them out of our country. These people are leaving voluntarily and willingly. However, Greece is persecuting them. As far as I know, there were 5 people they killed. Besides all these, the boats they punctured to sink show their very brutal approach. Surely, they show the officials from the European Union other places, on the other hand, they do have such practices.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told us, “Let’s hold a meeting in Sofia.” He also wanted to invite the Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis. There were two cases of death that day. After this incident, I said to him, “I will not come to where Mitsotakis is and I will not appear in the same photo frame with him.” We talked a lot that night, they tried hard to convince me, and then it was cancelled, because these things are not so cheap. These politicians should know that human life is not so cheap. So if this had not happened, this process would have developed very differently.
In fact, the Idlib incident has nothing to do with the European Union, but of course they are trying to take advantage of this situation. Macron is also trying to get something out of it just as Merkel brought up the Berlin summit issue regarding Libya. Similarly, most of the European countries are skilfully taking advantage of this situation. However, when it comes to burden sharing, they are not sharing the burden. Therefore, we hope during this period that a very different process will begin there following the decision taken today, and we will take new steps accordingly.
Kurtuluş Tayiz: After the treacherous attack in Idlib, you described it as “a continuation of the heinous coup attempt of July 15”. What exactly happened?
As we try to repulse the attempts to make Turkey stumble, the attacks are changing shape. We defended and protected our country against FETO coup plotters on July 15, and we are now in Syria for the same reason. Now, they are seeking to stage a different scenario in Idlib. It is not between Russia and Turkey. It is not Russia confronting us here, but the regime. Unfortunately, there is a regime going through such a period and has brutally persecuted its own people so far. This regime, which has brutally persecuted its own people, has consistently harassed us along the border, first in Al Bab and then in Jarabulus. The regime has always attacked from there and we had many losses, hundreds of them… We have always warned them, but they did not stop despite these warnings. What happened after that? They came to Afrin. The same happened in Afrin, and we also did what was necessary in Afrin. What could come next after Afrin was a possible attack against us from Idlib and it did. This attack was not supposed to be an armed attack. If over a million people are taking refuge in our borders, if the migration movement has begun, we cannot stand by. We cannot say, "Let them come, too." Migration currently lies at the root of the problem, and this is an irregular migration. We have to prevent this irregular migration. Imagine that these refugees also come to Turkey…This means 5-5.5 million refugees. How will Turkey be able to deal with this problem? The basis of the current step is actually an intense migration movement. Of course, we had to stop this migration movement, and we stopped it this way. And as of now, if this ceasefire and these signatures are respected, works on relevant principles and procedures will be completed in a week and hopefully it will be settled on a more robust basis.
İsmail Kapan: With the Operation Spring Shield, the American side has become active, too. Pompeo made a so-called support statement. James Jeffrey came to Turkey, visited our Hatay border and made some statements. After this point, there may be some efforts to activate the United Nations concerning both the Turkish-American relations and the Syrian issue. For example, do you expect a momentum in the positive direction?
Now there are supposedly good things, but I do not know what their positive or negative consequences would be in practice. The Ambassador and the representatives of the United Nations were with us last night. We made a lengthy evaluation of the situation with them. During this evaluation, they made many promises of support. I hope that these supports will be extended. Of course, these supports are the steps that can be discussed and taken by the United Nations Security Council. In addition, if today's ceasefire was not made and the process would continue the same way, there could be weapons, ammunition, equipment and other similar supports. However, we haven’t received any support from the US so far. Yet, we have the Libya issue ahead of us. We will hold meetings with the US regarding Libya. We will also have talks with Russia about Libya. Today, we have received some positive statements from Russia about Wagner. We hope that this will be put into effect. If it goes into effect, our work in Libya will be easy, and Sarraj's work will be easy, too.