Turkey aims to develop good relations with Syria and Iraq, and both countries need to be stable for counter-terrorism efforts to succeed, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday.
Turkey has long been one of Bashar Assad’s staunchest opponents, arguing that only his departure could stabilize Syria. That has set it at odds with Assad’s ally Russia and distanced it from a US-led coalition more focused on fighting Daesh.
Since taking office in May, Yildirim has repeatedly said that Turkey needs to “increase its friends and decrease its enemies” — an apparent tacit admission that past policies have left Ankara sidelined.
“It is our greatest and irrevocable goal: Developing good relations with Syria and Iraq, and all our neighbors that surround the Mediterranean and the Black Sea,” Yildirim said, in comments broadcast live on television.
Daesh terror group, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, has also established a network across the border in Turkey that has been blamed for a series of suicide bombings, some of which have targeted foreign tourists. Turkey last month announced the restoration of diplomatic ties with Israel after a six-year rupture and expressed regret to Russia over the downing of a warplane, seeking to mend strained alliances.

Source: Arab News