Turkiye needs full control over Syria’s Aleppo to solve refugee issue, official says

Turkiye needs to fully control the city of Aleppo in northern Syria in order to solve the Syrian refugee issue, the presidential adviser said yesterday.

“The only solution scenario in Syria is to give Turkey control over Aleppo, or rather, for Aleppo to be under the Syrian opposition’s control,” Yasin Aktay, chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said.

“Controlling Aleppo will reduce the number of Syrian refugees” in Turkiye, he continued, adding that this was important since the Syrian regime of Bashar Al- Assad and Russia’s control of the city came after horrific massacres that led to a large wave of migration towards Turkiye.

“If the situation in Aleppo is improved, [and] if Turkiye comes to an agreement with the Syrian regime – which I think Turkiye should demand – [then] Aleppo should be placed under Turkish control,” he said.

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This, he explained, would allow half a million Syrian refugees to return to their country.

The Turkish official has also explained that Turkiye does not seek to divide Syria or annex any part of it, saying this measure would be temporary.

Last week, a meeting was held in the Russian capital, Moscow, between the defence ministers of Turkiye, Russia and Syria as well as the heads of the intelligence services of the three countries.