Turkish journalist: Assad informed Putin that he agrees to meet Erdogan
A Turkish journalist reported that the Syrian President Bashar al Assad has expressed his agreement to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, based on a conversation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of July.
Turkish journalist Gürbuz Ifrane, citing Russian diplomatic sources, reported that Russia seeks to organize a meeting between the Turkish and Syrian presidents, especially with the Turkish opposition submitting a request to meet Assad.
In his article on The Independent Turkish, Ifrane stated that he met with three Russian officials involved in the normalization process between Türkiye and Syria, who are directly informed of the developments and report to President Putin.
One of these officials was a military attaché in Ankara, while the other two were senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials who had previously worked at the Russian embassy in Ankara, he said.
The Turkish journalist Gürbuz Ifrane pointed out that Russia doesn’t want to strengthen US hegemony in the Middle East through Israel, especially in light of the possibility of establishing a Kurdish state loyal to the US-Israel alliance.
Assad agreed to meet with Erdogan during a phone call with Putin in the second half of July, which was confirmed by Putin’s special envoy during his visit to Damascus.
According to Ifrane, Assad decided temporarily to ignore the demand to withdraw Turkish troops from Syria, considering that this topic could be discussed after the end of the US military presence in the country.
He indicated that Russia wouldn’t object to a new military operation that Türkiye might launch against Kurdish forces in Syria after the Assad and Erdogan meeting.
The Turkish journalist also quoted his sources as saying that the issue of the Turkish backed Syrian National Army won’t be included in the talks at the moment, however, that the problem of extremist groups in Idlib will be resolved urgently.
He explained that the main goal after the meeting between Assad and Erdogan is to start the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, where the mechanisms and methods of return will be determined according to an agreement between the two countries, and Qatar and the UAE will be partners in the financial aspect of the process.
Finally, Ifrane pointed out that the Russia is reluctant towards the efforts of the Turkish Republican People’s Party (CHP) to mediate a meeting between Assad and Özgür Özel, given the party’s policies towards the United States and the European Union, as there are doubts about the party’s position on the Russia if it comes to power.
