Türkiye hopes new Syrian administration embraces all facets of society: Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced hope that the new, post-Assad administration in Syria continues with an approach that "encompasses and embraces all sectors" of the Syrian people during a speech at the 15th Ambassadors' Conference on Dec. 10.

Erdoğan said Ankara "wholeheartedly" believes that Türkiye's "Syrian brothers who won their fight against a bloodstained, tyrannical regime" will be successful, referring to last weekend's ouster of the Baathist Bashar Assad regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.

Turning to ties between Türkiye and Iraq, Erdoğan said that Ankara sees Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty as "extremely important."

He stressed that the countries' joint fight against the terrorist group PKK, which threatens their security and survival, will continue.

The president also reaffirmed Türkiye's determination to put an end to the bloodshed in Gaza once and for all, stating, "I say it clearly that the route the Israeli government insists on and obstinately maintains is, in fact, not a true path."

Addressing efforts to reach a peace deal between the southern Caucasus neighbors of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Erdoğan said Türkiye hopes the "historic opportunity" that came with the liberation of the Karabakh region from occupation last fall will be crowned with an Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement opened the door to ongoing normalization and...