NEW YORK
Turkey would do whatever needs to be done as a part of the international coalition against ISIL, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday during an interview with American talk show host, Charlie Rose.
"Turkey had a big fight against al-Qaeda for a long time. Our struggle against ISIL will also be the same. We are very firm in this," he said.
Erdogan praised Turkey's national intelligence service MIT who conducted Saturday's rescue of 46 Turkish diplomats held hostage by ISIL for over a hundred days.
Erdogan had told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Ankara that Turkey could only support humanitarian missions as long as the Turkish hostages are in the hands of the ISIL.
He denied that any concessions had been made to the terror group; "There are many speculations circulating, I can say from here very clearly that there is not any ransom paid in exchange for hostages,"
Responding to the question on how ISIL released the hostages Erdogan said; "ISIL is playing for a number of things in the region. Perhaps they did not want to increase the number of the enemies they have because Turkey would have remained up to a certain point."
Erdogan denied that the fleeing Syrian Kurds represent a security threat to Turkey, but acknowledged there is a threat.
"Of all people coming to Turkey there are some who pose threat. MIT and our security are working to cope with this threat," he said.
Erdogan drew comparisons with the situation in 1991 when Turkey hosted one million Iraqi Kurdish refugees fleeing from Saddam Hussein's regime.
"Something similar is now happening both in Iraq and in Syria. We opened our doors and we still keep our 'open door' policy,” he said. "But we will see how long it goes. There is a question mark over that."
Erdogan also touched upon the speculations regarding foreign fighters crossing the Turkish border into Syria and Iraq to join ISIL.
He said that Turkey is unfairly treated in respect to the foreign fighters crossing the Turkey.
They are leaving their countries as tourists and travelling across Turkey as tourists, Erdogan said. "Turkish authorities have identified about 6,000 people with this intention. We have 1200 kms of border with Iraq and Syria. Turkey is a gate to enter these countries," he said. "It is not possible to control every single point of this border."
To claim that thousands of fighters have passed through the Turkish border to join terror groups would be unfair to Turkey, said Erdogan.
Erdogan told Rose that Turkey had warned about the crisis unfolding in Syria long before the ISIL upsurge. However, no sufficient attention was paid to Turkey's warnings.
Erdogan said that the airstrikes against ISIL is only one part of the solution.
"If you only go with airstrikes this means that you are not fully involved in this struggle," Erdogan said. "There will be things need to be done from air, on the ground, from an intelligence perspective, a political and a humanitarian perspective."
Erdogan also noted that the comment saying that the countries in the region would take greater steps would not be fair as fighting terrorism is a global issue which needs a more global approach.
Erdogan, said that he is hopeful the new Iraqi government will deal with the problems created by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
He noted, however, the Shia still dominate politics in Iraq.
"Maliki founded a Shia army instead of Iraqi national army," Erdogan said. "I hope that the government in Iraq is aware of this problem and will be able to establish a national army for Iraq."
www.aa.com.tr/en
