On a presidential plane returning from Azerbaijan’s Baku, where he attended the World Leaders Climate Summit at COP29, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed continued hope for normalization of relations with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“I still have hope that we can meet and put Türkiye-Syria relations on the right track,” Erdoğan said on Wednesday.
The main reason behind this initiative, Erdoğan emphasized, is the need to eliminate terrorist organizations along the Türkiye-Syria border. “We need to dismantle the terrorist structures between Türkiye and Syria,” he said, stressing that a successful effort could also support Syria’s territorial integrity and stability.
Erdoğan pointed to the presence of the PKK and its affiliates in northern Syria. “We are not the ones threatening Syria’s territorial integrity. It is the terrorist organizations, especially the PKK and (its Syrian branch) YPG, that are threatening it. The threat does not come from Syrians living abroad either,” Erdoğan said.
He called on Assad to recognize the threat posed by these groups and take steps to restore stability in Syria.
Erdoğan further noted that Syria has the potential for just and lasting peace, and the necessary steps are clear. “We have extended our hand to Syria for normalization. We believe this process will pave the way for peace and tranquility within Syria,” he said.
Regarding regional tensions that “threaten countries’ peace and tranquility,” Erdoğan also warned about the growing influence of Israel in the Middle East. “The Israeli threat next door is no fairy tale. We must not forget that instability in the region spreads quickly through volatile lands,” he said.
Erdoğan has been warning the regional and international community about Israel’s expansionist moves and its agenda to spread the brutal Gaza war across the entire Middle East, which, in his view, directly threatens Syria’s security as well.
dailysabah.com