Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says efforts to fix ties with Turkey had to this point introduced no tangible outcomes.
“The initiatives didn’t yield any outcomes value mentioning regardless of the seriousness and real keenness of mediators,” al-Assad mentioned on Sunday in a speech to the Syrian parliament, referring to latest conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.
Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil warfare, by which Ankara supported rebels in search of to oust al-Assad.
The Syrian president and his regime have been accused by worldwide our bodies and human rights organisations of committing warfare crimes after hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians have fled areas beneath the management of the federal government in addition to the nation as an entire.
“The answer is openness,” al-Assad mentioned. “Restoring a relationship requires first eradicating the causes that led to its destruction.”
The Syrian president additionally made clear that whereas he desires Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a situation for talks.
“It’s not appropriate what was introduced by some Turkish officers not too long ago, that Syria mentioned if there isn’t any withdrawal, it won’t meet with the Turks,” al-Assad mentioned.
“This speak is much from actuality,” al-Assad added.
In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a fervent supporter of the anti-Assad Syrian opposition, mentioned he would prolong an invite to al-Assad “any time” for doable talks to revive relations.
Al-Assad mentioned later that month that he was open to assembly Erdogan however it trusted the encounter’s “content material”, noting Turkey’s presence in Syria was a key sticking level.
Russia has been attempting to facilitate a gathering between the 2 leaders in an effort to revive ties. Iraq additionally mentioned in July that it might search to attempt to deliver the 2 leaders collectively.
A Turkish newspaper earlier reported Erdogan and al-Assad may meet in August, however a Turkish diplomat denied the report.
Because the civil warfare started, Turkey has been a lifeline for the Syrian opposition, offering a base for army and political figures.
The nation has additionally been concerned militarily in areas alongside its border with northern Syrian as a result of Ankara considers the presence of the Kurdistan Employees’ Occasion (PKK) and its associates, who’re current on this area, its main safety menace, which needs to be handled.
The PKK has carried out a warfare in opposition to the Turkish state since 1984 and is taken into account a “terrorist” organisation in Turkey, the US and the European Union.
Not abandoning Syrian opposition
In July, Turkey’s international minister, Hakan Fidan, told Al Jazeera that the Turkish authorities had a international coverage of “normalisation”, a part of Erdogan’s “imaginative and prescient of peace”.
“The area is now in a local weather in search of peace and stability,” Fidan mentioned. “The spirit of our time forces us to hunt peace and stability.”
Nonetheless, he emphasised that the coverage didn’t imply the Syrian opposition can be deserted.
“We aren’t altering our place concerning the Syrian opposition. The Syrian opposition’s relations with the regime are based mostly on their very own free choice, their very own free alternative,” Fidan mentioned earlier than mentioning that opposition fighters had fought alongside Turkish troops to guard Turkey’s safety.
“It isn’t doable for us to overlook this sacrifice. … It’s out of the query for us to overlook these sacrifices and allow them to down,” Fidan added.
However inside Turkey, the continued rise of anti-Syrian sentiment stays, placing the Turkish authorities in a troublesome place.
Turkey is residence to three.6 million registered Syrian refugees – essentially the most on the earth.
Whereas Erdogan has continued to again the precept of giving Syrians refuge, their future recurrently comes up in Turkish political debates with some opponents of Erdogan promising to ship them again to Syria.