ASSAD REGIME TURNED SYRIA INTO ‘DRUG PRODUCTION FARM,’ SAYS TURKISH PRESIDENT

Sat 11 January 2025:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said that the ousted Bashar Assad regime had turned Syria into a hub for drug production and a source of instability in the region, highlighting the heavy toll the conflict has taken on Türkiye.

Speaking at his party’s 8th Provincial Congress in southern Denizli province, Erdogan condemned the Assad regime’s actions during the 13-year Syrian conflict.

“Tyrant Assad and his circle had transformed Syria into a massive drug production farm, turning the country into a center for narcotics and oppression,” he said.

Erdogan also criticized international actors for enabling terrorist groups to thrive in Syria.

“Under the guise of fighting Daesh (ISIS), foreign powers supplied the PKK (terrorist group) and its affiliates with thousands of truckloads of weapons. This instability has fueled terror attacks and created challenges for our nation,” he added.

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Referring to the recent shift in Syria’s political landscape, Erdogan welcomed the progress toward stability following the collapse of the Assad regime. 

“The liberation of Syria has brought relief not only to millions of Syrians but also to Türkiye, as we share a 911-kilometer (566-mile) border and have faced the direct consequences of the conflict,” he said.

Türkiye, Erdogan emphasized, remains committed to supporting Syria’s recovery and ensuring the safe return of displaced Syrians to their homeland. 

“The restoration of peace and stability in Syria is vital for both nations,” he concluded.

Syria was a central node in the regional Captagon trade, with Caroline Rose, a director of the New Lines Institute’s Captagon Trade Project, explaining how pills were trafficked by units of the military’s Fourth Armoured Division from locations such as Deraa and Sweida in the south of the country overland to Iraq, or trafficked by the government’s allies, Hezbollah, into Lebanon.

While Hezbollah denied involvement in the Captagon trade, there was growing evidence that the drug’s reach was expanding. “Globally, the Captagon trade was worth around $10bn. Of that, roughly $2.4bn went directly to the Syrian regime last year,” Rose said. “Little or nothing went to restructuring or the needs of the Syrian people.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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