Meryem Göktaş,Sena Güler
11 November 2018•Update: 12 November 2018
By Serife Cetin
PARIS
Turkey’s fight against terrorist organizations represents a prerequisite for the security of the European nations, the country president said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan penned an article for Le Figaro, a French daily, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary since the end of the World War I.
"The objection we raise against new efforts akin to the Sykes-Picot agreement in our region and our efforts to fight against terrorist organizations such as Daesh, PKK FETO, reflect our respect for our neighbors and represent a prerequisite for the security of the European nations – of which Turkey is part," Erdogan wrote.
The 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement laid the ground for the borders of the new Middle East following the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
On the 100th anniversary of the end of the World War I, Erdogan said that "it is not possible to claim that the conflict is over."
"The domestic tensions, growing terror threat and deepening instability seen in Turkey's southern neighbors, Iraq and Syria, in recent years, along with the systematic dispossession and displacement that we have been witnessing in Palestine for decades, are among the clear indicators of that situation," he said.
Erdogan said some "problematic political entities" emerged after the borders were drawn on by the great world powers, following War I.
"The failure of those problematic political entities to build strong bonds with the societies, over which they ruled, led the Middle East and the North Africa regions to be remembered with authoritarian regimes, military coups minority rule throughout the twentieth century," the Turkish president added.
Erdogan said that the most important lesson that must be learned from World War I is how difficult it is to establish lasting peace.
He said Turkey would continue to work towards its goal of becoming a full member of the EU, which he called "the most important peace project" in the continent's history.
Turkey at the same time will contribute to peace and stability "by supporting representative, democratic and liberal governments in the Middle East," he added.
