A spokesman for the Turkish Presidency, Ibrahim Kalin, denounced the charges of the US Special Envoy to the International Coalition Against State Organization, Brett McGurk, for his country's support of what he called "terrorist organizations" in Idlib.
"It is Turkey that supports al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria," he said, adding that "Idlib has become a safe haven for al-Qaeda terrorists thanks to Turkey, and that Turkey provides them with arms, money and logistical support." He wondered: "How did all al-Qaeda fighters arrive in Syria? "The only way is Turkey."
* Kalen said: "The hints of the US envoy on Turkey's link to the existence of terrorist organizations in the Syrian Idlib, is unacceptable." *
"McGowork is one of the remaining faces of the era of former US President Barack Obama, and the press has published many pictures of him during visits to PYD strongholds." *
* Kalan said that "Turkey does not control the Syrian Idlib, and does not control it. The forces that have presence there, and have forces close to the region, are America and Russia, as well as the forces of the Syrian regime .. The areas near the border with Turkey, A large number of refugees, especially evacuees from Aleppo, Turkey have worked and continue to provide humanitarian assistance to them. "*
* Kalin pointed out that the area adjacent to the Syrian-Turkish border, inside the Syrian territory, embraces between one and a half million or two million refugees, some of whom can enter Turkey.
The official said that "the age of the Syrian crisis that broke out in 2011, six years, and there are fundamental errors in the strategy of fighting the state organization, which had no presence in Syria until mid-2014 .. Until that date there was no one in Syria except the regime of Bashar al-Assad, And the country did not witness a proxy war at the time, as is the case now. At that stage, we demanded a change in the framework of the legitimate demands of the Syrian people and the implementation of a political transition in the country. "
"But the Obama administration's failure to develop a strategy on Syria, intentionally or unintentionally, has pushed things in the region into a very complex situation and led to the emergence of state organization."
* Kalen pointed out that "the lack of a formula to resolve the Syrian crisis, pushed the militants to come to that country coming from Iraq, and from other places, such as Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia." *
The presidential spokesman explained that his country "warned at that time that the continuation of the crisis in this direction, would make it a global issue." *
* For his part, said the spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Hussein Mufti Oglu: The comments of McGork, "can be considered provocative statements." *
* The White House has stressed the need not to allow al-Qaeda to expand its influence in Syria, in comment on the control of the Sham Liberation Organization on most of the territory of Idlib and Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey.
* Despite the declaration of the Fatah al-Sham (the former Nasra Front) to disengage from al-Qaeda and to resolve itself and to merge with other factions in the Sham Liberation Organization, the United States still considers them affiliated to al-Qaeda.
* The United States did not reveal a formal position on recent events in Idlib, but the warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft of the International Alliance led by Washington intensified his trips recently across the province.
