Turkey ready to take joint steps with Syria, Russia: Erdogan
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Turkey vows to work with Syria and Russia in the fight against terrorism.
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (REUTERS)
Turkey pledged on Thursday to work with Syria and Russia in the fight against terrorism.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "Currently, we want to take a step with Syria and Russia, as a trio. For this, first, our intelligence organizations should come together, then our defense ministers and, then our foreign ministers should meet."
He made the remarks aboard the presidential plane while returning from his Turkmenistan trip.
Erdogan divulged that during a telephone conversation with Putin he offered to hold a meeting of leaders of Turkey, Russia, and Syria.
The Turkish President emphasized that the PKK, which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, is active in Syria, particularly in its northern regions, and warned that if nations like the US continue to send "thousands of truck-loads" of weapons, ammunition, tools, and equipment to terrorists in Syria, then Ankara will take matters into its own hands.
Borrell's remarks 'ugly'
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Turkish president also bashed the head of the EU's foreign policy Josep Borrell for his most recent comments, wherein he criticized Turkey for its links to Russia, and pushed it to support EU sanctions against Moscow.
"I do not take Borrell as my interlocutor. He can only be Mr. (Turkish Foreign Minister) Mevlut's (Cavusoglu) interlocutor," Erdogan said.
He continued by describing Borrell's remarks as "ugly."
"In other words, Borrell cannot appoint or regulate our relations with Russia. He has neither the quality nor the capacity to make such a decision on these matters. It was a repulsive comment," he added.
When asked about Germany's actions against a coup attempt by right-wing extremists, Erdogan applauded the measures and emphasized the need of keeping the process within the bounds of the law.
"It is my people, my country, who will best understand the feeling in Germany against the coup plans. Unfortunately, I cannot say that we see the same sympathy and understanding from our friend and ally Germany," he said.
