Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday invited Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to Ankara, saying he plans to repair ties strained by Turkey’s support for rebels during Syria’s long and bloody civil war.
‘We invite Assad’ – Erdogan Said During an interview with Turkish media.
“With this invitation, we want to restore Turkish-Syrian relations to the same level as in the past. Our invitation can be extended at any time,” he said.
President Erdogan did not explain why he did not simply invite President Assad to visit now, but rather spoke of a grand invitation he plans to extend in the near future.
“We have reached a stage where if President Bashar Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will do the same towards him,” the Turkish president said, suggesting he was expecting Assad to make the first move in some form.
Erdogan said it would be wise for Assad to pick up the phone soon, as he believes Turkey’s status as a diplomatic power is beginning to be respected in the region.
“President Putin and the Iraqi prime minister have taken the approach that the meeting will take place in Turkey. We talk about mediation everywhere, so why not with a neighbouring country?” he said.
Erdogan met and Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Kazakhstan’s President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit last Wednesday in Astana. Interestingly curt Reject President Erdogan has eagerly offered to act as a middleman in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
On Monday, the Kremlin put some ice on Erdogan’s wounds. tell Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Russia wanted to have a “platform for peace” somewhere and that Turkey would be as good a host as anywhere.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that Moscow had “never refused to negotiate,” but the Kremlin’s response to Erdogan’s proposal for mediation was literally “No, that’s not possible,” as Peskov himself put it.
“On the contrary, we have always supported negotiations involving all stakeholders. Currently there is no such platform, but on this point I have no choice but to agree with Fidan,” Peskov asserted after meeting his Turkish counterpart on Monday.
Since the beginning of the year, Erdogan and Assad have been engaged in a strange game of negotiation to resolve their differences, with each authoritarian leader urging the other to make the first move. Allude He had hoped to improve relations with Damascus after his party’s humiliating defeat. Election defeat During April.
Two weeks ago, Assad Said He said he was “open” to repairing ties with Turkey if the Turkish government adopted Syria’s position on “sovereignty, territorial integrity, the fight against terrorism and terrorist organizations.”
In other words, Assad wants Erdogan to stop supporting the Syrian opposition and withdraw Turkish troops from Syria. Turkey has made multiple incursions into Syria to drive Kurdish militias away from the border, and Erdogan has Threatened Just a few months ago, Ankara repeated the same sentiment, viewing all Kurdish militant groups as an extension of the PKK, Turkey’s violent Kurdish separatist party.
Erdogan Said Exactly a year ago, Assad made it clear he would not meet if Turkey demanded a unilateral withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria as a prerequisite for any talks, and his emphasis last week on Turkey recognizing his “sovereignty” suggested he still had that prerequisite in mind.
Reuters report On Monday, Syrian refugees in Türkiye filed for a joint military exercise between President Erdogan and President Assad. Intention They should come together and resolve their differences, because Erdogan may force them all back to Syria and leave them to Assad’s control.
Turkey has taken in more Syrian refugees than any other country, and many Turks are losing patience with them. Despite reports of increased violence against Syrian refugees, human rights activists say Turkey remains far safer for refugees than Syria.
The Iraqi government was suggested It may host talks between Turkey and Syria but has not set a date or said whether Erdogan and Assad plan to attend in person.
“We are doing what is necessary. The remaining details require extensive consultations with the parties involved,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said on Sunday.
