Erdogan: Ready to restore diplomatic relations with Syria and meet with President Assad
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his readiness to reopen diplomatic relations with Syria, stressing Türkiye’s readiness to work to strengthen these relations without any interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
Erdogan also stressed his willingness to meet Syrian President Bashar al Assad again, noting Türkiye’s commitment to developing relations between the two countries in ways that have been cooperated in the past.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters about their intention to strengthen relations with Syria in the same way as in the past, stressing that there is no intention to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs due to the brotherly relations that unite the two peoples.
In a related context, Syrian President Bashar al Assad expressed during his meeting with the special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lavrentyev, his readiness for all initiatives related to strengthening relations between Syria and Türkiye on the basis of respect for the sovereignty of the Syrian state and the fight against terrorism.
A Russian-sponsored meeting was held at Syria’s Hmeimim base, in which a Turkish technical delegation and a Syrian delegation participated, according to a report in the Turkish Aydinlik newspaper.
These events come after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani announced at the beginning of June the start of Iraqi mediation to bring Ankara and Damascus closer together to resolve outstanding differences.
An official process of normalizing relations between Damascus and Ankara began at the end of 2022, with a meeting of defense ministers, followed by a meeting at the level of foreign ministers in 2023 in the presence of Russian and Iranian foreign ministers.
A number of contentious issues between the two countries were discussed, including scheduling the exit of illegal Turkish forces from Syrian territory.
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler confirmed on the first of June that his country is studying the possibility of withdrawing its forces from Syria provided that a safe environment is provided that the security of the Turkish border is guaranteed.
On the other hand, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad announced that the main condition for any dialogue between Syria and Türkiye is Ankara’s announcement of its readiness to withdraw from Syria.
