Ankara’s efforts to make peace with Assad regime has run aground, despite the best efforts of Putin. Erdogan has reversed a decade old policy of trying to topple Syrian strongman Assad, because the 4 million Syrian refugees in Turkey has become a major headache for his AK Party, which is bleeding voters to antiimmigrant Zafer (Victory) Party. He has openly urged Assad to meet him for peace talks, which received no response from Damascus, because as a pre-condition Syria wants all Turkish forces and their anti-Assad proxies to quit Syrian territory. After contemplating a final response, Ankara seems to have made up its mind that Assad’s pre-conditions are not acceptable.
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler has sharply criticized Damascus’ demand for a set date for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from northern Syria as a precondition for initiating peace talks.
Güler condemned this condition, describing it as a clear sign of Damascus’ “unwillingness to achieve peace and stability.” He remarked, “Damascus’s request to set a date for withdrawal means that it does not want to return to peace and stability.”
The Turkish minister emphasized that Turkey is ready to cooperate with any party that emerges victorious in free elections held in Syria, provided they are conducted following the approval of a comprehensive constitution voted on by the Syrian people.
In a separate context, Minister Güler expressed concern over U.S. forces training elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on air defense systems.
He suggested that these systems “may be handed over to the SDF forces after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the region.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reiterated that normalizing relations with Turkey hinges on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory and the cessation of “support for terrorism.”
Assad has stated in multiple interviews that any potential meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is contingent on reaching a clear and unambiguous commitment from Turkey to completely withdraw from Syrian territory, cease support for terrorism, and restore the situation to its pre-war state.
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