Syria’s Assad blames Turkey’s Erdogan for violence in Syria, insists on pullout of Turkish troops

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s President Bashar Assad has slammed Turkey, blaming Ankara for the uptick in violence in his war-torn country and insisting on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria. Assad spoke in an  interview on Wednesday with Sky News Arabia, his first to a foreign media outlet in months. Turkey is a main backer of armed opposition fighters who have been trying to remove Assad from power and has carried out three major incursions into northern Syria since 2016. Turkish forces control parts of northern Syria, where fighting and violence have persisted. Assad said that “terrorism in Syria is made in Turkey.”