ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country has returned around 550,000 Syrians to areas it controls in northern Syria since taking over the region from Kurdish forces and establishing a so-called “safe zone.” “Five hundred and fifty thousand people have returned since the safe zone was created,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told CNN Turk. “People need to be returned to their homes. Their return should be safe and dignified.” Since a deadly civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, Turkey has supported rebel forces attempting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and maintains a heavy military presence in northern Syria, backing groups that fight both the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey hosts some four million Syrian refugees and Ankara is under pressure to send them home amid growing domestic economic woes and rising anti-refugee sentiment. Refugees are one of the main issues in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections that will take place on Sunday. Ankara is now looking to reconcile with its neighbour. Cavusoglu on Saturday called for “cooperation with the Assad regime,” saying that “this is essential to build lasting stability in Syria.” A Wednesday meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria in Moscow, as well as those of Russia and Iran - who are the Syrian government’s biggest allies - concluded with the four sides agreeing on a roadmap to further advance Turkey-Syria relations. “A roadmap was agreed upon. It was decided to form a working group. Friends will discuss what steps will be taken in the fight against terrorism, how the political process will work, and what steps will be taken in the upcoming period,” Cavusoglu said. Turkey justifies its military presence in Syria on the basis of its desire to repatriate refugees and it claims to be fighting Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a US-backed force that Ankara considers a Syrian front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK is a Kurdish group waging an armed insurgency against the Turkish state in its fight for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights. Alongside its alleged proxies it is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched numerous operations against the SDF in northern Syria - most recently an aerial campaign in November dubbed Operation Claw-Sword - to complete his long-desired 30-kilometer “safe zone” along Syria’s northern border with Turkey. Damascus, however, has repeatedly condemned Ankara and its plans for the zone, calling the Turkish military presence in Syria a violation of the country’s territorial integrity. Russia has also condemned the Turkish incursion.
