Fikri Isik: "Russia and Iran can't be excluded from Syrian process"

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik spoke about the regional role of Turkey and its relations with the West at the Munich Security Conference, held today. Isik noted that recently, a huge number of events happened in the world and in the region in a very short time.

Due to the fact that a vacuum of power in Syria was not filled in time, the country is currently destroyed by terrorists of Daesh terrorist organization, and today the entire world is trying to oust them from Syria. A similar situation exists in Iraq. According to Isik, this would not have happened if at one time the US showed determination and responded to the violation of "red lines", outlined by them.

"As for current situation, it is what it is. The whole world is affected by the Syrian crisis, including Turkey. Turkey lost thousands of people because of this situation," he said.

Turkish Defense Minister noted that Turkey is fighting against terrorism for many years. The number of Syrian refugees accepted by Turkey has reached 2.8 million. In addition, about 300 thousand Iraqis found refuge in the country. In total, there are currently about 3.1 million refugees from two countries in Turkey.

"But we don't complain, because human lifes must always be above all else," he stressed.

Turkish Minister drew attention to the fact that Turkey is fighting not only against Daesh, but also other terrorist organization - Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The fight against it lasts about 25 years already. In addition, Isik recalled that his country also had to fight against Fethullah Gulen's organization.

Fikri Isik also said that Syrian President Bashar Assad is the main culprit of everyday deaths of civilians in Syria and urged the United States and the European Union to cooperate more closely to finally resolve the Syrian conflict. At the same time, the Minister emphasized the inadmissibility of excluding Russia and Iran from the settlement process.