Turkey says doesn't want either ISIL or Assad

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has made clear that his government cannot countenance the presence of either the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on its borders or the continuation of President Bashar al-Assad?s government, warning that a political transition that included al-Assad would inevitably turn into a permanent situation.

Davuto?lu, speaking with a group of journalists from Turkey during a visit to New York to attend a 70th anniversary session of the U.N. General Assembly, reiterated over the weekend his government?s aspirations to create safe zones in northern Syria.

?The only way of establishing the safe zone is by reinforcing the Free Syrian Army [FSA] and the moderate components,? Davuto?lu said, noting that ISIL, which earlier increased its attack capacity near Turkey?s borders, had recently pulled back. Now, it is time to push ISIL further south, he added.

?We don?t want to see either Daesh [the Arabic acronym for ISIL], or the Syrian regime on our borders,? he said. 

According to the prime minister, neither Iraqi nor Syrian Kurds are considered a ?threat? by Turkey, but the constituents of both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) that ?have engagements with the regime? are a ?threat? for Turkey.

Davuto?lu elaborated on Ankara?s objection to the al-Assad regime with a retrospective look at his government?s Syria policy starting in 2011 when they exerted efforts to find a formula that would include rule by al-Assad. 

?However, after 2012, when air strikes and the use of chemical weapons started and a mass migration flow began, it was then understood that Syrians would not accept al-Assad. We said that a solution with al-Assad would...