Turkey: The presence of Turkish forces in Syria is a guarantee for its territorial integrity

Turkish Presidency’s Director of Communications, Fakhruddin Altun, said in an exclusive interview with the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper: “The presence of Turkish forces in Syria is a guarantee for its territorial integrity, and insisting on Turkish forces withdrawal from Syria in this stage is meaningless.”

Altun added that “achieving tangible results in the war against terrorism is imperative to make progress in engagement with Assad regime.”

Altun made it clear that Assad regime should act the same manner to get the outcome from this operation.

Altun emphasized that “creating the necessary conditions for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrian refugees and revitalizing the political process that has been obstructed by the Assad regime remain among Ankara’s main priorities in Syria.”

Astana hosted a quadripartite meeting on June 21, including deputy foreign ministers from Russia, the Syrian regime, Turkey and Iran.

The quadripartite meeting came after another meeting was held in Moscow on May 10, with the participation of foreign ministers from the four countries, to discuss rapprochement between the Assad regime and Turkey.