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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Assad blames Erdogan for violence in Syria, insists on pullout of Turkish troops
2023-08-11
[An Nahar] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
has slammed The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
, blaming Ankara for the uptick in violence in his war-torn country and insisting on the withdrawal of Ottoman Turkish forces from Syria.

Assad spoke in an interview with Sky News Arabia, his first interview with a foreign media outlet in months. The interview will be fully aired later Wednesday, but Sky News Arabia released some excerpts before the broadcast.

Turkey is a main backer of armed opposition fighters who have been trying to remove Assad from power and has carried out three major incursions into northern Syria since 2016. Ottoman Turkish forces control parts of northern Syria.

Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran, has managed over the past few years to retake most of the territory with the help of his allies, and turn the tide of war in his favor. Syrian rebels and Turkey-backed opposition forces now only hold a small northwestern corner of Syria, where fighting and violence have persisted.

"Terrorism in Syria is made in Turkey," Assad said.

He also denied rumors of an upcoming meeting between him and Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
, despite meetings between Turkey and Syria's defense and foreign ministers under Russian and Iranian mediation to restore strained ties.

Damascus maintains that Ankara must put forward a timetable for the withdrawal of Ottoman Turkish troops from Syria in order to normalize relations. In May, the ministers agreed to set up a "road map" to improve relations.

"Erdogan's objective in meeting me is to legitimize the Ottoman Turkish occupation in Syria," Assad said in Wednesday's interview. "Why should I and Erdogan meet? To have soft drinks?"

In recent months, Syria has also improved relations with some countries that had backed the opposition since the 2011 outbreak of the country's civil war.
Posted by:Fred

#2  Good luck with that! Cyprus is still occupied (since 1974).
Posted by: magpie   2023-08-11 11:49  

#1  I kinda thought he had lost his voice.
Posted by: Skidmark   2023-08-11 01:07  

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