Türkiye's Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Thursday that Ankara welcomed the announcement that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the terror group YPG had declared their dissolution, stressing that Ankara wants a stable Syria that preserves its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national unity.
"Yesterday in Syria, the SDF and YPG announced that they had dissolved themselves. A very important meeting was held in Damascus. I would like to express our great satisfaction with this," Yılmaz said, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Ağrı Mollakara Gold Mine, operated by Türk Altın İşletmeleri in the Diyadin district of eastern Ağrı province.
"We want our neighboring and friendly countries in the region to have unity and solidarity, just as we want unity and stability for ourselves. We want their territorial integrity, sovereignty, and national unity to be secured and maintained. We want a stable Syria," he added.
Yılmaz said Türkiye supports an inclusive system of governance in Syria.
"We are in favor of a united and whole Syria that embraces all its different identities, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Alawites, and Sunnis.
"We support a structure in which people can freely live their differences while protecting their country and preserving their stability under a single state and within a single army," he said.
He said Ankara welcomed developments in that direction and expressed hope that progress would accelerate on the ground.
"That is why we say: A Türkiye free of terrorism, a region free of terrorism. Both a Türkiye free of terrorism and a region free of terrorism," Yılmaz said, emphasizing that regional stability and prosperity were closely linked to Türkiye's own stability.
He also highlighted what he described as the importance of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed between Türkiye, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
"We have established a deterrent defense agreement bringing together the strengths of these three countries. We believe other countries will join it in the future. As Türkiye, we support this," he said.
Yılmaz added that the framework could expand through agreements and conditions determined by the three countries and would contribute to greater regional stability.
Yılmaz stressed that stability in Syria and Iraq directly affects Türkiye's own stability.
"The peace and stability of our region is our stability," he said, recalling the regional consequences of the conflict in Syria.
"A peaceful Syria will also make a major contribution to regional stability and prosperity," Yılmaz said. He also congratulated Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa for what he described as his determined leadership.
"Our brotherhood will grow stronger. Together, we will build a Türkiye where our people no longer talk about terrorism, where peace is lasting, and prosperity and security are transformed into investment, stability, and production," he said.
Yılmaz said Türkiye's eastern and southeastern regions had been unable to fully realize their economic potential for many years because of terrorism and had struggled to attract private investment.
"There is no investment where there is no security and peace," Yılmaz said, noting that while public investment can continue even amid terrorism and violence, private-sector investors generally avoid areas lacking security and stability.
"The people living here paid the highest price for this. Young people, in particular, could not find jobs and experienced hardships," he said.
Yılmaz said that, according to one estimate, Türkiye had suffered losses of $2.3 trillion over the years because of terrorism and security problems, as Ağrıcultural and livestock production was constrained, tourists stayed away, qualified workers did not come to the region, capital fled, and trade was disrupted.
"Now, the opposite process is underway. In the Century of Türkiye, we are moving toward a Türkiye free from terrorism, where terrorism is no longer on the agenda.
"All of Türkiye will benefit from this, all of Türkiye will gain, all 86 million people will gain, but those living in the east and southeast will gain the most," Yılmaz said.
He added that improved security, investment, economic growth, and development would usher in a fundamentally different period for the region.
Yılmaz also recalled that the Turkish parliament had passed the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Cohesion.
He said the National Solidarity and Integration Coordination Board, which he chairs, subsequently convened and adopted important decisions.
Yılmaz said the government had established a road map for the next phase of the process.
"We will assess and monitor the situation on the ground very carefully in the period ahead.
"Relevant institutions will make assessments, while our security councils and relevant organizations will make clear determinations regarding developments and concrete progress on the ground," he said.
He said the process would begin once those findings were confirmed by the National Security Council.
"The implementation of all the other provisions is linked to the laying down of arms and the completion of the disarmament process. This is stated in the first provision.
"First, weapons will be laid down, the disarmament process will be completed, this will be determined on the ground and confirmed by our National Security Council. The other provisions will then take effect," Yılmaz said.
"Our goal is to complete this positive process as quickly as possible and implement it in the fastest and most effective way.
"We have intensified our efforts in this direction. All our relevant institutions are fully carrying out their responsibilities and continuing their work," he added.
Yılmaz said competition over critical minerals was accelerating globally and that artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and advanced exploration and processing technologies were transforming the mining industry.
"We are determined to carry the momentum we have achieved through our National Technology Initiative under the leadership of our president into all strategic areas of our economy, including mining," he said.
He stressed that technological capability was essential to national independence, particularly in strategic sectors such as defense.
"A country that has not reached a certain level in technology cannot be independent. If you cannot produce your own technology, particularly in the defense industry, independence remains nothing more than a slogan," Yılmaz said.
He said every gram of gold produced at Mollakara represented years of exploration and engineering work, a strong commitment to investment, and confidence in Türkiye's domestic resources.
"We will continue to bring our country's underground wealth into the service of our people, develop our technological capabilities in mining, strengthen our qualified human resources and contribute to the development of our cities through new investments," Yılmaz said.
"Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we will continue to build the Century of Türkiye step by step by mobilizing all of our country's capabilities and creating new achievements for our nation's shared future," he added.
