Erdoğan: Era of exploiting region via terrorist organizations has come to end

The end of the Baath regime in Syria is also Türkiye's victory, Erdoğan underlined. "The end of the Baath regime's tyranny is a victory of our Syrian brothers, it is also our victory as their neighbors,' Erdoğan said in a statement.

"The era of exploiting the region via the terrorist organizations has come to an end. The period of using terrorism as a weapon, a tool, a puppet is over," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed in his comments on Saturday.

Bashar Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.