“Turkey is in line with US in some cases and the Turks are moving in the framework of American strategies,” said Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi Top Military Aide to the Iranian Leader on Tuesday.
The former commander in chief of the IRGC (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) made the remarks on the sidelines of the ceremony to honor best literary works and books of sacred defense in Tehran.
“There are some areas of disagreement between the Americans and the Turks and the western part of Afrin is one of those areas of disagreement,” he noted.
“The US is after creating a new force of 30,000 men in southern Syria but Turkey does not agree with it,” he recounted, “on the other hand, if the Kurds call for their autonomy in the region, they need to reach Mediterranean shores to survive. That’s why they occupied Afrin and this is violation of Syria’s national sovereignty.”
“The US and Turkey presence in Syrian soil, to us, is illegal and with no lawful justification,” asserted the Iranian general.
“I think that the Syrian government and army will not tolerate this presence,” he added.
“Turks presence in the region of Afrin will bring troubles in Turkey-Syria relations,” maintained Mr. Rahim Safavi.
YNG/ 4208258