Türkiye hits back at Trump over Syria 'takeover'

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on December 18 that world powers should remove Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the terrorist list, according to AFP. HTS led the opposition forces that toppled Bashar al-Assad's government in the recent lightning attack in Syria.

"I think it's time for the international community, starting with the United Nations, to remove them from the terrorist list. HTS has taken big steps to break with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) and other extremist elements," Fidan said, even though Turkey has not yet removed HTS from its terrorist list.

Trump says Türkiye orchestrated operation to overthrow Syrian president

HTS was once an offshoot of al-Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by most Western countries, despite efforts to change its image. Since HTS took control of the government in Damascus, Western countries have made contacts with the organization and made many demands in exchange for recognizing the new government.

Fireworks celebrate the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Homs city (Syria) on December 18

In a related development, Foreign Minister Fidan dismissed US President-elect Donald Trump's claim that Türkiye was taking over power in Syria, calling it a serious mistake. "For the Syrians, it is not a takeover. If there is a takeover, it is the will of the Syrian people," Mr. Fidan said.

Earlier, Mr. Trump said the new force in Syria was controlled by Türkiye and argued that Ankara had carried out an "unfriendly takeover" without causing many deaths.

According to Foreign Minister Fidan, portraying Türkiye as the ruling party in Syria is incorrect and that is not what Ankara wants. "We are learning lessons from what happened in our region, because the culture of domination destroyed our region. Therefore, it is not Turkish, Iranian or Arab domination that should be the core element, but cooperation. Our solidarity with the Syrian people should not be described or defined as if we are actually in power in Syria. I think that is wrong," Mr. Fidan affirmed.

Since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Türkiye has been a supporter of the opposition against Mr al-Assad and has also been a home to millions of refugees.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tho-nhi-ky-phan-phao-ong-trump-ve-viec-tiep-quan-syria-185241219072537848.htm