For "Dialogue and Cooperation in the Middle East: Geopolitics and Geo-economics Perspectives" International Conference of non-governmental think-tanks held in Bucharest, with the participation of Romania, Hungary, Italy, People's Republic of China, Russian Federation, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, Marmara Group Foundation attended from Turkey. Speaking at the conference organized by Flavius Caba-Maria and Prof. Dr. Liviu Mureșan on behalf of MEPEI, President of Marmara Group Foundation Dr. Akkan Suver talked about the Operation Peace Spring.

Liviu Mureșan and Flavius Caba-Maria

You can find the text of speech of Dr. Akkan Suver below.

We have gathered here today to talk about the Middle East.
With your high permission, I would like to discuss today the Middle East chaos together with the experiences that my country undergo.

In order to describe what happened in the Middle East and define right and wrong criticisms as accurate as possible, it is necessary to look at the conditions under which it was formed. Even with such a glance, it is not possible to claim that we can see and understand everything. Sometimes it is not true, if possible. For one sees only what he/she can see.

So today, in here, I will share with you what I see and understand from the Middle East.

For years, we have witnessed the inexhaustible war of Palestine and Israel and we continue to be.
Then we watched the years of war between Iran and Iraq.

For the last forty years, we have been inhaling the stinky smell of the swamp of terrorism.
The Arab Spring, which was blowing from North Africa, shook Egypt, the region's most important actor. Egypt overthrowed the President firstly, then put the elected in prison first, and then remained an audience of his death. Now it's looking for ways to find stability.
In case of Iraq, it was turned upside down with the Arab Spring. Hung it’s President. Iraq which it’s unitary structure deteriorated, not in appearance but it was actually divided into two.
Just then, things got mixed in Syria. The irresponsibility of the rulers of the country caused the forced displacement of more than six million people. Four million of these six million people came to my country. Russia settled here at the invitation of the Damascus government.
All of this was the scenarios that someone wanted to stage in these countries in the name of democracy.

Terrorists were used in the formation of these scenarios. Although the terrorists have given themselves the name of “Islam” which is pseudo and fake, in fact, they are all perverted people who had no share of humanity. They are ruthless sadists. They are murderers. Adding to all this, the support of US and some European countries which is arising from misunderstanding while trying to take advantage of the regime gap in Syria's territory, Kurdish terrorists constituted serious terrorist acts in Turkey's borders and inside the country.

When the size of these distresses and terrorist acts increased, Turkey has faced for ensuring its own security.

The ultimate goal of Operation Peace Spring, launched on October 9, 2019 in the face of multi-dimensional terror threats emanating from Syria against national security of Turkey, is to ensure the security of Turkey's borders, to neutralize terrorists in the region and to save the Syrian people from the oppression of terrorists.

The Operation is being conducted on the basis of international law, in accordance with our right of self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and resolutions of the UN Security Council on fight against terrorism.

PYD/YPG is the Syrian offshoot of PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization also by the EU and NATO. During the planning and execution phases of the operation, only PYD/YPG elements and their hideouts, shelters, emplacements, weapons, vehicles and equipment that belong to DEASH terrorist organization are being targeted. All necessary measures are taken to prevent any harm to civilians and any damage to civilian infrastructure. Allegations that the operation would lead to a new humanitarian crisis and a mass migration flow are fabricated in order to discredit Turkey's counter-terrorism efforts.

Turkey has no plans whatsoever to modify the demographic structure in the operation area. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, PYD/YPG terrorist organization and DEASH terrorist organization have oppressed and intimidated the local population, the Syrian Kurds in particular, and forcibly displaced them. The crimes which PYD/YPG and DEASH terrorist organization committed against humanity, first and foremost the practices of ethnic cleansing, have been documented by independent international organizations. Preservation of the territorial integrity and political unity of its neighbor, Syria, is essential for Turkey.

The allegation that Operation Peace Spring would damage efforts to reach a political solution in Syria is far from reality. Turkey is one of the few countries that exerted maximum and genuine efforts to establish the Constitutional Committee, in close cooperation with other Astana guarantors and the UN. Pursuing a separatist agenda that undermines the principle of territorial integrity and political unity of Syria, on which a political solution must be built upon, PYD/YPG cannot be regarded as a legitimate representative of any segment of the Syrian people. Fighting against such terrorist organizations will only contribute to the advancement of the political process.

Our main expectation from the international community, particularly from our Allies, is to support our fight against terrorism. As it did in the past, Turkey will continue to firmly counter all kinds of terrorist organizations.

If you let me, I would like to talk about another troubled corner of the Middle East, Cyprus Island.

The island of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriots are also experiencing a distress in the Middle East.

Since the outset of the Cyprus issue, Turkey has exerted every effort in good faith and has put forward a strong political will for a comprehensive settlement. The party who rejected the Annan Plan in 2004 and who left the table at the Cyprus Conference in Crans-Montana in 2017 is known to everyone.

The Cyprus issue will remain unsettled as long as the Greek/Greek Cypriot duo’s mindset prevails which ignores the very existence of the Turkish Cypriots, denies their political equality and perceive them as a minority. This mindset is the core reason behind the failure of every negotiation process carried out over the last 5 decades.

On the other hand, Turkey exerts every effort towards the establishment of a mutually acceptable, durable and equitable regime within the framework of international law that upholds the legitimate rights and interests of all parties in all seas, including the Mediterranean.

Turkey will continue to protect resolutely its own rights and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterrenean. Turkey is ready to talk to all countries in the region, except the GCA(Greek Cypriot Administration), for the delimitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean in accordance with the principle of equity. The interlocutor of the Greek Cypriots are the Turkish Cypriots. We want a Cyprus where two peoples with equal rights can live in peace and we are committed to just that.

As your friend who has devoted his years to peace studies and for people to live respectfully, I would like to say this sincerely to your high committee after mentioning all these things that Turkey, the Turkish nation are peace-loving people. The Republic of Turkey is the follower of Founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s philosophy which is “peace at home, peace in the world.”