“Turkey will hand over al-Bab to the Syrian people...not the Syrian government," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş stated on Tuesday.
“Once al-Bab is captured, it will not be handed over to the Syrian government forces," said Kurtulmuş.
The Turkish military has been surrounding the Daesh controlled town of al-Bab for weeks, as part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield Operation.
“The Euphrates Shield Operation is aimed to ensure Turkey's security. We aim to clear these cities of terror groups and give the cities back to its own people. The most successful example of this is Jarabulus," said the Deputy Prime Minister.
The Turkish-led Euphrates Shield Operation, aided by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), was launched in late August to improve security, support coalition forces, and eliminate the terror threat along Turkey's border.
“The coalition is still not providing sufficient support to Turkey's al-Bab operation," said Kurtulmuş.
Turkey has called on the U.S.-led coalition to increase its support of Turkey in the fight against Daesh and other terror groups in Syria.
The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke about the Syria peace talks being held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“We do not expect the Astana talks to yield an immediate result, but for the first time the two warring sides have come together to negotiate. It is normal for the two sides to have completely opposing views, as they are coming out of a war environment," said Kurtulmuş.
Tuesday marks the second day of the talks that are focusing on extending the ceasefire brokered by Turkey, Russia and Iran that came into effect on December 30.
“Negotiations were extended to spread the ceasefire across Syria. We are hopeful that if the involved parties carry out their duties successfully, the Astana talks will yield a successful result," Kurtulmuş explained.
The peace talks are aimed to discuss the numerous ceasefire violations and improving internal security in an attempt to pave the way for a political solution to end the six-year war.
Turkish parliament approved the long-debated constitutional reform package late last week.
“The changes strengthen the powers of the presidency, but also include strong monitoring mechanisms that the President will be accountable to,” said Kurtulmu, who also stated that if approved, the presidential system would come into effect after the 2019 election.
The proposed changes were pushed through parliament with the support of the ruling AK Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
“The people must vote 'Yes' in the referendum for the constitutional reform package to go through. The package was backed by a partnership of two parties, but each party will carry out their own referendum campaigns,” announced Kurtulmuş.
“There will not be a joint AK Party and MHP referendum campaign. The campaigns of both parties will call the people to vote 'Yes,'” Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmuş added.
The people will make the ultimate choice in the referendum: Erdoğan
Kurtulmuş also commented on the New Year's Eve terror attack at Istanbul's popular Reina nightclub.
“No matter how well he was trained, it was not an attack that he could have carried out alone. The forces behind the ordeal will be reached,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Evidence indicates Daesh was behind the Reina assault: Justice Minister
