UPDATE - Arab tribes' fight against PKK/YPG terror group in Syria 'honorable struggle': Turkish President Erdogan

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY TURKISH PRESIDENT; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Diyar Guldogan

On recent clashes between Arab tribes and the terror group PKK/YPG in eastern Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the tribes are claiming back their lands in unity and solidarity.

"What is happening now is the move, the step, of the Arab tribes to claim their lands in unity and solidarity. That's why I think it's important," Erdogan told reporters late Monday on the presidential plane returning from a visit to Russia.

"Arab tribes are the real owners of those places. The real owners of those places are not these terrorist groups,” he added.

Erdogan reiterated that PKK and YPG are terrorist groups.

"The attitude of the tribes against the PKK and YPG by coming together is an honorable struggle," he added, stressing that the terrorist PKK/YPG is dangerous for locals of the region.

Operations launched last week by Arab tribes against the PKK/YPG in the eastern Syria province of Deir ez-Zor later expanded with the participation of other Arab tribes.

Since Aug. 27, a total of 33 villages have been liberated from YPG/PKK occupation in the rural areas of the Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Hasakah provinces and Aleppo’s Manbij district.

"Countries that support these organizations must see that the terrorist group PKK/YPG does not recognize the right to live for the people of the region through its terrorist activities," Erdogan said.

Ankara is constantly telling the US and Russia about the PKK/YPG's terrorist activities that threaten Türkiye, he added.

"There is no massacre or terrorist activity that this terrorist group would not do to control the oil in Deir ez-Zor. We have made the necessary warnings to the proper countries in this regard,” he said.

"It was seen that the ammunition and weapons aid the US provided to the terrorist group did not serve peace in the region. Every weapon given to the terrorist group serves to continue the bloodshed in the region and to disrupt the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria," Erdogan said.

Turkish officials have long objected to US weapons and other support to the terrorist PKK/YPG, supposedly meant for fighting Daesh/ISIS. Türkiye has said repeatedly that using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.

- Normalization with Syria

Syria is not taking a "positive approach" towards normalization with Türkiye, Erdogan said.

"Unfortunately, (Bashar) al-Assad watches from a distance, from the stands, the steps taken by the Türkiye-Russia-Iran-Syria format regarding our normalization. So he is not involved in any way ... We hope that they will take their place at the table in the continuation of the process," he added.

The president said normalization is possible if there was progress on some issues, including the fight against terrorism, on the safe and voluntary return of refugees, and on the country’s political process.

"If progress is made on these topics, it is possible to normalize relations with the Syrian regime. From the beginning, we said that the quadrilateral process with the Syrian regime should be without preconditions," he added.

For this to happen, Erdogan said it is "very important" for the Syrian regime to act in line with the realities on the ground and to avoid approaches that could harm the process.

Ankara favors the territorial integrity of its neighbors, Erdogan said, adding: "Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria (in 2011), we have been saying that the biggest threat to its territorial integrity are the terrorist groups in the country.

"Our fight against terrorist groups that threaten our country will continue until the last terrorist is neutralized. We are in that region to clear northern Syria of terrorist organizations that threaten Türkiye."

- Protests in Kirkuk

About protests in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Erdogan said the Turkish foreign minister and Türkiye's intelligence units are following the issue "closely."

"Currently, there is a relatively calm atmosphere in Kirkuk ... We are following the issue. For the peace and stability of the region, activities that will disrupt the structure of Kirkuk should be avoided," he added.

Protests broke out in Kirkuk last week following a decision by the Iraqi government to transfer the Kirkuk Operations Command headquarters to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The KDP argues that the building was previously used by them and so should be given back.

"Any action that would disrupt the structure of Kirkuk means the deterioration of the integrity of Iraq,” warned Erdogan about the city, which also has a large ethnic Turkmen population.

"The Turkmen homeland Kirkuk has been a place where different cultures coexisted in peace for hundreds of years. We will not allow the peace and integrity of this place to be disturbed.”