ANKARA
Turkey’s National Security Council on Monday expressed its concern about attempts to change the demography in Syria during fighting near the Turkish border.
In a statement issued after its June meeting in Ankara, the council said it was disturbed by “actions aiming to change the demographic structure and terrorist acts targeting the civilian population living in the region”.
The council, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed events in Turkey’s south as well as “possible threats” and additional security on the border.
The council said Turkey would continue its humanitarian aid for the 2 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees sheltering in Turkey while condemning the “insensitive attitude” of the international community towards human rights violations in the region.
In recent days, Turkish media reports have claimed the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) has been trying to change the demographic structure of northern Syria with the aim of establishing a Kurdish state from Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea.
Erdogan, speaking after an iftar dinner for the Turkish Red Crescent in Istanbul on Friday, said Turkey would not tolerate the establishment of a new state in the northern part of Syria.
