Eurasia Press & News
Commenting on the capture of the northern Syrian town of Azaz by an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said Turkey has repeatedly warned international powers that the unsolved Syrian crisis would breed instability and terrorism in the war-torn country.
Speaking to the press at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport before his departure for the UN General Assembly’s 68th meeting in New York, the Turkish president reiterated that Turkey is not seeking a war with its southern neighbor and that Turkey has taken all available measures so as not to be affected by the activities of the terrorist groups in Syria.
Gül called on the international powers to show their determination in solving the Syrian issue and added that the Syrian issue is Turkey’s priority in its current foreign policy agenda.
After heavy clashes between fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) sprang up on Thursday in Azaz, a Syrian town only 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Öncüpınar border gate in the Turkish province of Kilis, the al-Qaeda-affiliated ISIS was able to overrun the town, a development which could pose a threat to the security of Turkey and the advancement of Syrian opposition forces.
