Turkey-Jordan vow to continue joint counterterrorism efforts

As Turkey and Jordan agreed to further enhance cooperation in every possible field, speaking during a joint press conference held yesterday at the Çankaya Palace with Jordan's Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulki, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım vowed to continue joint efforts with Jordan in combating terror. Addressing members of the media following an hour-long meeting in Ankara with Prime Minister al-Mulki, Prime Minister Yıldırım said that "In the light of recent developments within the fields of defense and security, enhancing [diplomatic] cooperation is a necessity. As Turkey, we want to further enhance the conventional cooperation grounds in all fields, primarily in military training."

While Turkey and Jordan have been the two countries to host the largest number of refugees since the Syrian Civil War began, the two prime ministers further addressed the ongoing crisis in Syria while addressing the latest developments throughout the Middle East. Underlining that the region is going through an immensely sensitive period, during a press conference Prime Minister Yıldırım emphasized that Turkey and Jordan are the major countries to be affected by the developments and instability in both Syria and the Middle East.

Continuing on to note that Turkey and Jordan are the pioneers of counterterrorism efforts, Yıldırım said: "We have informed all parties that those with an agenda which goes against Syria's unity and integrity will not make any progress by using combat as a tool against Daesh. In this respect, it is an absolute infelicity for some of our allies to choose the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG) as partners in northern Syria."

Responding to a question regarding steps to be taken to eliminate the PYD/YPG's presence in Manbij, Prime Minister Yıldırım said, "An immense amount of motivation is needed to eliminate the PYD/YPG from the region because there are many forces there. have a large presence there. If coordination is not ensured, undesired conflicts may arise [in Turkey's neighboring region]… The threat is a common enemy capitalized upon by terrorist organizations in their bid to prevent the establishment of peace in the region and a political solution in Syria. Thus, it is necessary to combat the terrorist groups without making any distinctions between them. Iran, Russia and the U.S should be in close cooperation. We, as Turkey, lead the way in this." Analogous to Yıldırım, Jordanian Prime Minister al-Mulki also affirmed that "Turkey and Jordan are in close cooperation against those trying to destabilize the region."