Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia following their meeting in Tehran, Iran September 7, 2018. Cem Oksuz/Turkish Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will “neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game” if the world turns a blind eye to killings of tens of thousands to further the Syrian government’s agenda, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

In a series of tweets following a trilateral summit with the leaders of Russia and Iran in Tehran, Erdogan said resorting to methods that would disregard civilian lives would “play into the hands of terrorists.”

“If the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people to further the regime’s interests, we will neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game,” Erdogan said.