NATO allies are looking into what can be done to support Turkey’s efforts in the Syrian crisis, the bloc’s secretary general said on Thursday.
Jens Stoltenberg was speaking at a virtual news conference in which he presented the 2019 Annual Report on the military alliance.
HE CONDEMNED ASSAD REGIME ATTACKS
“No other NATO ally is more affected by the crisis in Syria than Turkey,” Stoltenberg pointed out, mentioning the military losses and the fact that Turkey hosts 4 million Syrian refugees
The NATO has increased its naval presence in the region, and Spain is also delivering capabilities to augment the Turkish air defense system, he added.
The secretary general also condemned the “indiscriminate attacks” by the Russian-backed Assad regime in Syria and called on them to support the UN-led efforts to establish a political and negotiated solution to the crisis in Idlib region and all over Syria.
Stoltenberg described 2019 as “the year when we took big steps in further adapting NATO. It was also the year we marked our 70th anniversary”.