Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday, February 18 held a speech at the 2018 Munich Security Conference, in which he elaborated on the issue of Syria's territorial integrity and on the progress made at Astana peace talks, Sputnik International reports.

"We have to be sincere that we are supporting territorial integrity of Syria and we need to pay more attention to political process, which is as important as fighting terrorist organizations," Cavusoglu said.

The Turkish minister added that supporting a terrorist organization against another terrorist group was "a big mistake" as such an approach put Syria's future at risk.

Cavusoglu's remarks come amid Turkey's ongoing military operation in the northern Syrian Kurdish-held district of Afrin, which started on January 20. Ankara has said its offensive was aimed at clearing the Turkish-Syrian border from terrorist presence. Damascus reacted by saying that the operation was an assault on Syria's sovereignty.

The relations between Turkey and the United States are currently in crisis because of the support provided by Washington to the People's Protection Units (YPG), which are regarded by Ankara as affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey and several other countries. Washington explains its backing of the Kurds by the need to fight against the Daesh terrorist group.