“We are in contact with Russia on every step that we take in Syria,” Erdogan stated.

Istanbul:

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Friday that Turkey was not seeking to seize any Syrian territory regardless of stepping up its assaults towards Kurdish forces within the war-torn nation’s north.

Erdogan’s feedback got here days after a Turkish air strikes on a Syrian border submit run by regime forces reportedly killed 17 fighters.

A battle monitor stated that each Kurds who man among the Syrian border posts and regime forces had been killed within the Turkish raids.

The official Syrian information company stated three authorities troopers died.

Turkey stated it was responding to a strike by itself positions alongside the border that killed two troopers.

The change of fireplace marked one of many largest escalations since Ankara and Damascus traded assaults in 2020.

Erdogan appeared to attempt to calm the tensions in feedback to reporters on board his return flight from his first wartime go to to Ukraine.

“We do not have eyes on the territory of Syria because the people of Syria are our brothers,” Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying.

“The regime must be aware of this.”

Erdogan’s go to to Ukraine got here two weeks after he flew to Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that additionally lined Syria.

Putin’s help was instrumental in serving to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad survive an 11-year battle towards insurgent teams backed partly by Turkey.

Erdogan stated he informed Putin that he needed to cooperate extra carefully with Russia in northern Syrian areas the place Ankara has been focusing on Kurds it views as “terrorists”.

“We are in contact with Russia on every step that we take in Syria,” Erdogan stated.

– Reproachment with Assad? –

The border conflict got here with fears mounting that Turkey could also be making ready to launch its fourth cross-border offensive towards Kurdish forces since 2016.

Erdogan accuses the Kurdish fighters in Syria — allied with the United States towards Islamic State jihadists — as outlawed militants with hyperlinks to teams waging a decades-long insurgency towards the Turkish state.

He repeated his catchphrase on Friday that Turkish forces might strike Syrian Kurds “suddenly one night”.

But he additionally hinted that Turkey could also be open to a potential reproachment with Assad after fiercely opposing his regime.

“There should be no resentment in politics,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

He identified that Turkey had made up with its one-time rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates prior to now few years.

“We need to secure further steps with Syria,” he stated with out totally explaining what these would possibly contain.

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu sparked protests in northern Syrian areas below Ankara’s management final week by calling for a “reconciliation” between insurgent teams it backs and Assad.

He additionally revealed final 12 months holding his first transient assembly with a Syrian overseas minister since 2011.

“You should always be at peace,” Erdogan stated on Friday. “You should have the opportunity to meet at any time.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)