The press conference between Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde turned into an exchange of harsh accusations, after Linde “urged” Turkey to withdraw from northern Syria and Çavuşoğlu questioned her motives. “By what authority are you asking Turkey to withdraw from Syria?” Çavuşoğlu replied, criticising the imperative language used by the minister. “I wish everyone in Turkey had a chance to speak as openly as you,” Linde replied, visibly uncomfortable. “In Turkey, everyone can say what they think, but the West cannot apply double standards. We do not want to divide Syria, but you are asking us to withdraw from northern Syria, where the PKK is. Why don’t you ask us to withdraw from Idlib, or from the areas where we expelled Daesh? Because then another 3 million refugees would cross into Europe,” replied Çavuşoğlu, asking Sweden not to confuse the PKK terrorist group with the Kurds.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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