Turkey will take a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria in the next six months to prevent the war-torn country being divided along ethnic lines, Turkish Prime Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
Yildirim also told a group of reporters in Istanbul that while Syrian President Bashar Assad could have a role in the interim leadership, he must play no part in its future.
Syria’s more than five-year conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, with Kurdish groups carving out their own regions, and periodically battling groups from Syria’s Arab majority whose priority is to overthrow Assad.
Turkey fears the strengthening of Kurdish militant groups in Syria will further embolden its own Kurdish insurgency, which flared anew following the collapse of a cease-fire between militants and the state last year.
“Turkey we will be more active in the Syria issue in the coming six months as a regional player. This means to not allow Syria to be divided on any ethnic base, for Turkey this is crucial,” Yildirim said.
On Friday Syrian Kurdish authorities evacuated thousands of civilians from Kurdish areas of Hasaka following Syrian government air strikes, the Kurdish YPG militia said.
Yildirim also said that Turkey wants to repair its ties with Egypt.
“We think we need to develop economic and cultural ties with Egypt as countries that use the two sides of the Mediterranean,” Yildirim said.
However he sounded a note of caution that high-level relations would not be repaired overnight.
“We think we need to start from somewhere,” he said.

Source: Arab News