Speaking at a news conference, İbrahim Kalın, the presidential spokesperson, said on Thursday in Ankara, ''We thank all our citizens for supporting the Turkish Lira and our determined posture will continue on this matter. The Turkish economy's effectiveness is going on robustly now.''
Addressing the humanitarian plight in Aleppo, he said in Ankara that Syrian government forces were carrying out crimes against humanity and war crimes in the city:
''What is happening in Aleppo is seriously worrying us. The regime is continuing to explicitly commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a matter of fact, the regime is not open to a ceasefire or any other solution, as we saw clearly in its statement on media today. That directly demonstrates what the regime's real intention is in both Aleppo and elsewhere.''
'Turkey is conducting intense talks with Russia for Aleppo ceasefire'
Explaining that Turkey is conducting intense talks with Russia for a ceasefire in Syria's Aleppo and to allow humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged city, President Tayyip Erdoğan's spokesman said on Thursday:
''Our president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had talked with Mr. Putin three times. We are calling for taking necessary steps to address the humanitarian crisis. Turkey is fulfilling its responsibility on this matter.''
Operation Euphrates Shield
Answering a question regarding the Operation Euphrates Shield by releasing the latest data on that matter, he informed,
''The Operation Euphrates Shield is decisively being conducted as it was planned. Especially within al-Bab, due to Daesh terror group's concentration of its power on the city, we should act very carefully. From now on, an 800,000-sq-km area from Jarablus to Azaz and to al-Bab region, were purged of all terror elements.''
He added that the Operation to liberate Al-Bab is being conducted as it was planned. We are cooperating with the international coalition and meanwhile the negotiations over the legal status of Camp Bashiqa is going on.
Strained ties with the EU
He also touched upon the rising tension in relations with the EU:
''It is unfortunate that the cancellation of visas and the financial aid for refugees were not honored in accordance with the deal. Turkish citizens' accession to Europe under a visa-free regime needs to be solved and Europeans should hold up their end of the deal,'' he cited.
Stating that anti-Turkish sentiment in Europe have reached an intolerable level, he said, ''The racist and far-rightist rhetoric in Europe are the source of concern for us. They also should adopt a more responsible approach towards the soaring racism in their countries. The extremism should not be tolerated and they had better stop using anti-Turkism rhetoric for their political gains.''
Putschist soldiers in Greece
The spokesperson lastly added to answer a question about the extradition of coupist soldiers who fled to Greece after their attempt had failed on July 15, which became one of the topics mostly widely spoken about over the last week, after Greek courts denied Turkey's extradition request for three soldiers and accepted it for 3 others:
''President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is following the process himself. There is an ongoing legal process in Greece. We expect their extradition as soon as possible. Those people made an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government and their return is necessary for both legal liability and Turkish-Greek relations. We hope Greek authorities will take desired steps.''
