Ashraf AboArafe
Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen:
* President Erdogan visited Egypt for the second time this year, and this expresses the growing relations between Egypt and Turkey, the two most important countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
* We now want to see a unified Syria, with its territorial sovereignty protected and guaranteed, and it does not pose any threat or risk to neighboring countries.
Turkish Ambassador to Cairo Mutlu Şen said during his meeting on Al Arabiya Channel that the D8 Group is a group that was initiated as an idea and project by former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, explaining that he was enthusiastic about establishing a group of emerging economies from among Islamic countries that must work together regarding economic development. Ambassador Şen pointed out that President Erdogan visited Egypt twice this year, and this expresses the growing relations between Egypt and Turkey, the two most important countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen spoke about Turkey’s participation in the D-8 Summit held on the 19th of this month, saying, “The G8 is a group that was initiated as an idea and a project by our former Prime Minister Erbakan, may God have mercy on him. He was enthusiastic about establishing a group of emerging economies among Islamic countries that should work together regarding economic development. Therefore, the summit was held in Cairo on the 19th of this month. As the host of the Economic Cooperation Organization of the G8, President Erdogan was very happy to attend this summit or as a guest of President Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The summit was successful and historic because it paved the way for the inclusion of a new member of the group, which is the state of Azerbaijan. Egypt has actually taken a very positive approach with Azerbaijan, and I believe that in the coming period we can include more countries in this group. We find cooperation to achieve development. On the other hand, there is another important aspect to this summit, and I would like to point out that this year, President Erdogan visited Egypt for the second time, and this expresses the growing relations between Egypt and Turkey, the two most important countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. I always call this cooperation as close cooperation and coordination for development. In our region, President Sisi, as you remember, visited Turkey on September 4th and the two leaders signed a joint declaration focusing in particular on economic cooperation and cooperation for development. So this visit, although it was planned early, coincided with urgent developments in the region and helped all or many countries in the region that have an interest in achieving stability, security and cooperation between the countries of our region in an excellent way. Especially with regard to what is happening in Gaza and Lebanon. ” In response to the developments in the region, especially with regard to Syria and what future does Turkey want in Syria? Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen said, “For us, Syria is not only a sister country. We are interested in the well-being of our Syrian brothers. We share more than 900 kilometers of common borders with Syria. What is happening or what happened in Syria, we must not forget that 13 years ago had a direct impact on Turkey. Not only that, we have hosted four million Syrians as a duty over these years. But we have also received direct terrorist threats. And the danger is not only the fragmentation and division of Turkey. Rather, this has become a quasi-reality and a threat to Turkey, Iraq and the entire region, unfortunately. All this is because the regime’s behavior was unsustainable. So the regime was not supported by the people and considered its people a threat to its survival and relied on external powers and the support of external powers such as Iran and Russia instead of trying to reach an agreement with its people. Therefore, we want to see a unified Syria now, with its territorial sovereignty protected and guaranteed and not posing any threat or risk to neighboring countries, especially the threat and risk of terrorism emanating from within Syria such as ISIS and the terrorist organization PKK. With the help of the entire region such as Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, they all help rebuild a new Syria on the institutional and political level and even rebuild and help the Syrian people to determine their fate. A unified, stable and prosperous Syria. Syria is in dire need of assistance in order to rebuild and return refugees voluntarily and with dignity and get rid of terrorists and even foreign entities that seek to divide Syria. So, we want to see a unified Syria that preserves the integrity of its territories and begin directly to provide humanitarian aid, recovery and reconstruction. “In response to a question about how Turkey can contribute to the return of refugees and also to the reconstruction of Syria, Ambassador Salih Mutlu Shen confirmed that Turkey is committed to helping Syria according to and within its capabilities in the field of facilitating all humanitarian aid that helps the sister Arab countries as well as the international community in order to mobilize second aid through Turkey, adding, “As this will happen, I am sure, through Jordan. Secondly, we are ready to accelerate and enhance our humanitarian aid and even our assistance in reconstruction towards rebuilding institutions and public services. We have already started this work and this is important. Other sectors need assistance for the daily life of the Syrian people, such as energy. Therefore, Syria’s capabilities and resources are undoubtedly limited. Syria also needs economic and development aid, even from countries in the region, such as the Gulf States, Jordan and Iraq. Therefore, we must mobilize our resources and provide them in order to rebuild Syria and so that the refugees can now feel safe and return by the thousands with great happiness. However, it will take a long time because their homes must be present. They do not have fear of their security situation now, thank God, but their homes, schools, hospitals and all public services must be available.” This requires joint efforts, especially from the countries of the region, Türkiye and the neighboring Arab countries. This will be a priority in our new country, along with fighting terrorism.
“The issue of terrorism and stopping these threats and dividing Syria is a real threat. This is our top priority. Therefore, we want to see all these non-Syrian and foreign elements in northeastern Syria. They must leave Syria, even the PKK elements.” Ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen said in response to the question, “Is it now the era of Turkey in Syria? The regime in Syria, instead of relying on the consensus and agreement of the Syrian people, relied on external forces. Therefore, it is time for the new government to rely entirely on the Syrian people. “There is nothing in this era that is a sphere of influence for a country that dominates Syria or any other country. Turkey does not seek hegemony and we are against any kind of hegemony in Syria or any other country. We are a neighboring country and a sister country to the Syrian people and the Syrian government. Or the Syrian administration or Egypt is the same thing and the Emirates and Qatar are like Saudi Arabia. We all have a duty as a country in the region and the countries closest to the Syrian people. We must work and interact with the current government and administration and work to help the Syrian people and the transitional administration,” Ambassador Saleh Mutlu Shen added in response to a question, “Do you coordinate with these regional players, the Arab countries and the West regarding the developments in Syria?” “The Syrian people are our brothers and Syria is a neighboring country to Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. So the top priority is for the countries of the region, Turkey and other countries to cooperate with even the main international players who should help constructively the new administration in Syria as well as the Syrian people. Without a doubt, our priority is for the region to help in this smooth transitional process as well as reconstruction. Without a doubt, our priority is to work in this direction and the Aqaba meeting is a step towards this.” Ambassador Saleh Mutlu continued his speech in response to the question “What kind of mediation did Turkey undertake between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and the world in order to also facilitate its removal from the terrorist lists? The top priority for the Syrian administration is to provide public services and support the Syrian people and help them in their daily lives. The necessary international and UN aid therefore the reality in Damascus is that there is a current administration and we hope and appeal for constructive interaction and commitment therefore our clear position is this and that and we see that there is no mediation but we have to express our position and demand that the international community interact with the current Syrian administration in a “Building to ensure the availability of public services and to improve the daily lives of the Syrian people. There is no mediation, but this is our clear position and we see that the international community is gradually beginning to realize this issue and interact with the current Syrian administration. In the coming weeks and months, we will see a large number of countries visiting this current administration in Syria and trying to provide assistance. For example, our Foreign Minister Mr. Hakan Fidan will soon visit Damascus for this purpose to ensure interaction with them and coordinate efforts to help the current Syrian administration to recover and rebuild, as well as consult with them.”
