Baladi News
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote a comprehensive strategy to promote long-term peace and stability in Syria can be achieved through Turkey’s leadership.
In this strategy Erdogan describes President Trump's announcement of withdrawing troops from Syria as a right call, however, he adds, it 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.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second largest standing army, is the only country with the power and commitment to perform that task, Erdogan points out.
Unlike coalition operations in Raqqa and Mosul, which relied heavily on airstrikes that were carried out with little or no regard for civilian casualties, Turkish troops and fighters of the Free Syrian Army went door to door to root out insurgents in Al Bab, a former stronghold of the so-called Islamic State, Erdogan says.
Erdogan then writes that Turkey proposes a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the root causes of radicalization.
"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. In this sense, I would like to point out that we have no argument with the Syrian Kurds," Erdogan says.
"Following the United States withdrawal from Syria, we will complete an intensive vetting process to reunite child soldiers with their families and include all fighters with no links to terrorist organizations in the new stabilization force," he continues.
In addition, Erdogan talks about ensuring adequate political representation for all communities is another priority, saying that under Turkey’s watch, the Syrian territories that are under the control of the Y.P.G. or the so-called Islamic State will be governed by popularly elected councils. Individuals with no links to terrorist groups will be eligible to represent their communities in local governments.
Erdogan, in his strategy, sees Turkey as the sole stakeholder that can work simultaneously with the United States and Russia, and that Turkey will build on those partnerships to get the job done in Syria.
Erdogan concluded saying that it is time for all stakeholders to join forces to end the terror unleashed by the Islamic State, and to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity, adding that Turkey is volunteering to shoulder this heavy burden at a critical time in history, and calling on the international community to stand with Turkey to achieve this mission.
Source: The New York Times