Turkey "wants to recreate Ottoman Empire," ODFS Director tells Sputnik News

Image Credit: AP Photo/ Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Presidential Press Service

Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought Turkish soldiers on the ground in Syria so that Ankara could create a new Ottoman Empire, of which Syria had historically been a part, the chief of a Syrian NGO told Sputnik.‬

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought the creation of a safe zone in Syria as a pretext to give Turkish forces a foothold in the war-torn country, recreating the regional influence of the Ottoman Empire, Director of the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria Ribal Al-Assad told Sputnik.‬

On October 5, Erdogan proposed the establishment of a no-fly zone and a safe zone in Syria, a proposal that was rejected by the United States and other members of the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition.‬

"Before the Russians moved into Syria, Erdogan wanted to use the refugee crisis as an excuse to move Turkish troops into Syria and create a no-fly Zone and a safe zone, and in the process attacking the Kurds who have been gaining ground and have been a formidable force against his Islamic extremist proxies," Ribal Al-Assad said.‬

He claims Erdogan sought to let the Turkish-supported Islamist “gain as much territory as possible in Syria and Iraq.” The international community would allow Turkish forces to “move in and impose order” under the pretext of the Islamist takeover.

‪“Then it would have been impossible to take him out [because] it would have been his forces that would have been the peacekeepers,” Assad said, adding Turkey would then stay in Syria under that guise. ‬

Syria, formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire, is a “natural place” for Turkey to attempt to spread its influence south into the Arab world. The consolidation, under Erdogan of a Sunni Muslim new Ottoman Empire would effectively block any further spread of Iranian Shia influence, he explained.‬

“He wants to recreate the Ottoman Empire,” Ribal Al-Assad said of President Erdogan. "He sees himself today as the leader of the Muslim Sunni world, against the Iranian led Shia-axis."‬

Ribal Assad suggested that the Turkish expansion project is “now impossible” after Moscow’s deployment of the S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems in Syria, and building additional military facilities in the country.‬

Russia moved S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems to Syria to protect its air assets following the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft by a Turkish F-16 fighter over Syria.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151204/1031250255/turkey-erdogan-syria-ottoman-empire.html#ixzz3tYJ8pOcs