Turkey accuses US of not telling truth to Congress, people on Syria
ANKARA
The U.S. administration is not telling the truth while sending letters to Congress or informing its people, Turkey's foreign minister said on Oct. 9 in response to Washington's decision to extend the national emergency executive order in Syria.
"Instead of blaming Turkey, the US should abandon its own wrong policies, and should be more honest with the American people and its Congress," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a joint news conference with his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Felix Plasencia.
The U.S. on Thursday extended the state of emergency decree issued in 2019 for another year, claiming that Turkey's activities in Syria pose a threat to national security.
In 2019, then President Donald Trump had withdrawn most of the U.S. troops in the region from Syria before Turkey's anti-terror operation.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Çavuşoğlu, who described the letter as a "copy-paste," said the U.S. administration had previously used the same sentences.
"The reason for this is the U.S.' cooperation with the YPG terrorist organization, which the U.S. takes very seriously," he asserted.
"We know very well that the purpose of being here is not to fight against Daesh (ISIL terror group)," he stated, emphasizing that this position is illegal under U.S. law. "We have fought against Daesh. The only army that is fighting against it is our army in NATO and the world."
Around 4,000 terrorists have been killed as a result of this struggle, he said and added that Turkey is supporting the international efforts by taking measures against foreign terrorists.
He went on to say that the U.S.' Syria and Iraq policies, as well as all of its policies, are discussed in Europe and NATO. All of these policies are implemented without a plan and foresight, he added.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Venezuela wants to be important ally of Turkey
For his part, Plasencia commended the deep relations between the two countries. Bilateral contacts and trade engagement, he emphasized, should be strengthened.
"The size of our economies and the potential of our countries, the trade volume of $5 billion is acceptable, but this is not a limit. We must work to increase this as well,” he stressed.
Noting that both are leading countries in their respective regions, he said Venezuela wants to be an important ally of Turkey.
On the next month's regional and local elections in Venezuela, he said both mayors and governors will be elected from a field of 7,000 candidates.
He stated that the EU will deploy an election observation mission and that Turkey has also been requested to send an independent monitoring team.
