ISIL exists because al-Assad exists: Erdoğan aide

ANKARA

AA photo

A senior spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s office has indicated the presence of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was linked to the prevalence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

“No doubt, destroying this terrorist organization is very important for regional countries and their stability. As long as the al-Assad regime continues its existence, terrorist organizations like Daesh will continue finding a place for themselves in Syria,” İbrahim Kalın, a spokesperson for Erdoğan’s office, said during a press conference in Ankara on June 30, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL. 

“In the past two weeks, there have been attempts to show Turkey in the same framework with Daesh, linked with the attacks in Tal Abyad and Kobane,” said Kalın, referring to recent clashes in two Syrian towns by the Turkish border. 

“Turkey has no relations with Daesh or a similar terrorist organization and will never have,” he said. 

Kalın said Ankara was in talks with NATO allies over its border security, but it already had the necessary legal justification for moves that would preserve its border security, though he gave no further details. 

“It is not sound to interpret measures which we have taken to secure our border with headlines like ‘Turkey is going into a war... Turkey is throwing itself into the fire,’” Kalın said.
 
“Our security measures are entirely aimed at preserving our border security,” he said. 

On July 29 the president chaired a National Security Council meeting, which voiced its concern about a “terrorism” threat from across the border.