Recent information regarding the meetings between Syrian and Turkish officials

It seems that the official confirmation or denial of the existence of reciprocal visits between Syria and Türkiye is no longer important, as the results of the meetings began to appear on the ground, most notably Türkiye’s cessation of talking about a large-scale military operation.

It seems that the security meetings are becoming more mature between the two parties in preparation for reaching political meetings that may result in an agreement that restores the waters of the relations cut for more than a decade between the two neighboring countries.

Accordingly, the Turkish intimidation has evaporated since last May about the imminent start of a military operation in northeastern Syria against the Syria Democratic Forces.

Ankara is now content with small operations in specific pockets, or by targeting Kurdish leaders, the last of which was two days ago, when the SDF accused Türkiye of targeting a car carrying the co-chair of the prison administration in the eastern countryside of the oil city of Rmelan, which resulted in the killing of the two officials on the spot.

In this context, an informed source in Damascus revealed to “Hashtag” that successive unannounced meetings took place between senior Syrian and Turkish security officials, some of which took place in Syria.

The source added: “Not the last of them is what the head of the Turkish intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, and his Syrian counterpart, Ali Mamlouk, conducted from talks in Damascus”.

Speaking about the difficulty of the talks, the source says: “The process of restoring relations won’t be easy, because of its details that cannot be resolved easily, but the important thing is that despite its sensitivity and danger, it is witnessing remarkable progress”.

Regarding the “pitfalls” of the agreement, the source explained that there are many obstacles that are being discussed during the meetings, on top of which Türkiye’s support is for armed factions in northern Syria, which Damascus rejects completely.

According to the source, the Syrian authorities have no interest in normalizing relations with Ankara as long as Turkish forces continue to be present on Syrian territory.

However, for Türkiye to ensure that its interests are protected, it needs to ensure the commitment of the Syrian authorities to prevent the PKK from using its territory to prepare for attacks on Türkiye.

The source says: “Türkiye seeks to dismantle the SDF and any Kurdish formations, while Syria is interested in reducing the SDF and placing it within the circle of Syrian patriotism”.

But in the end, the two parties agreed to “end the aspirations or independence tendencies of the Kurds or any other separatist movements,” according to the source.

The source indicates that the SDF is “compelled to reach an agreement with the Syrian government as the only option… Because any other direction would be harmful to her and her interests… Especially since the Kurds will be outside the equation of agreements between Türkiye and Syria”.

The issue of the return of refugees is one of the main items for reaching any agreement, and the source from the Syrian capital stressed that it is “not an easy task”.

However, the presence of refugees in Türkiye during the next few period could benefit the Justice and Development Party in next year’s elections by mobilizing the votes of the electorate.

Regarding the threats that occurred to the Syrian opposition coalition located on Turkish soil, the source believes that the issue is “a pressure card to separate the coalition from the rest of the groups and factions supported by Türkiye, with the aim of including the coalition in the subsequent settlements”.

The source says that Damascus insists on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria and the restoration of control over the entire geography in northern Syria, including Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo.

However, returning to this geography is not easy, because it has become a refuge for the fighters of the extremist factions, led by Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (formerly al Nusra Front).

Analysts believe that to solve this complex there are two options.

The first is large-scale battles for the Syrian army with Turkish connivance, and this option will be very costly in terms of material, military and humanitarian aspects.

Or for Türkiye to sponsor the process of deporting militants from Idlib to another place, and Afghanistan comes at the top of the options, because it is the most suitable for these militants, especially after the Taliban movement took control.

The source confirms that Russia has repeatedly offered to help arrange a Turkish-Syrian ministerial meeting.

He continues: “Given the conditions of the region and the international situation, where the conflict between Russia’s alliances against the Atlantic is most intense in Europe, reaching a real agreement will be inevitable, and what is currently being implemented is step-by-step implementation of the terms of the agreement”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had said in a statement a few days ago that Moscow supports the idea of ​​organizing a meeting between the foreign ministers of Syria and Türkiye.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov didn’t hide that his country supports the idea of ​​organizing a meeting of the heads of the Foreign Ministry in Türkiye and Syria, if necessary.

He pointed out that Moscow believes that the meeting will be useful.

He admitted: “We’re talking about establishing contacts… Currently, contacts are taking place at the military and intelligence levels between the two sides… We support this meeting, and encourage them to do so”.

Reuters quoted unnamed sources, including whom it described as a senior Turkish official, and a Turkish security source as well, as saying that Moscow has withdrawn some military resources from Syria to focus on Ukraine.

And it asked Türkiye to normalize relations with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, to speed up a political solution in Syria, according to Reuters.

This is because Ankara doesn’t want Iranian or Iranian-backed forces to fill in the gaps left by the Russian withdrawals.

Russia also doesn’t want to expand Iranian influence because it reduces its presence, according to Reuters.

The former Turkish ambassador to Syria, Ömer Önhon, stated that the continued US support for the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northeastern Syria angered Erdogan and brought him closer to Russia.

In this context, the United States seemingly rejects the return of relations between Türkiye and Syria, but it won’t object to any discussions that are limited to the security and military aspect, and do not lead to the resumption of diplomatic and political relations”.

“Eventually, the US forces will withdraw from the region completely”.