Assad claims goal of Turkiye negotiations must be to end “occupation”
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Roshan Amiri
- . January 13, 2023
- . Update: January 14, 2023 12:41 am
The occupation of Syrian territory and the funding of what he called “terrorism” should end, according to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who was apparently alluding to Turkish forces stationed in northern Syria and their assistance for rebels.
Assad also stated that the sessions “should be organised between Syria and Russia in advance in order to… deliver the tangible outcomes sought by Syria” in his first remarks on historic negotiations presided over by his ally Russia.
Assad made the remarks on Thursday when speaking with Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian president’s envoy to Syria, in Damascus, according to Syrian state media.
During the 12-year crisis in Syria, Turkiye has been a significant supporter of the political and armed opposition to Assad and has dispatched its own forces into large portions of the north of the nation.
By hosting discussions between their defence ministers last month and planning for meetings between the foreign ministries and eventually presidents, Moscow is promoting reconciliation between Damascus and Ankara.
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According to Lavrentiev, Moscow saw the meeting of defence ministers “positively” and intended to advance negotiations “to the level of foreign ministers,” according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
According to Assad, the outcomes should be founded on the idea of “ending” the occupation and support for terrorism, a term that the Syrian government employs to describe all armed opposition organisations.
According to a source with direct knowledge of the conversations, Syria demanded that Turkey withdraw its soldiers from large portions of the north and stop supporting the three main rebel groups.
Before agreeing to a meeting of foreign ministers, the source claimed that Syria was eager to see progress on those demands through follow-up committees.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister of Turkey, denied suggestions that he and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad may meet this week and instead suggested on Thursday that the two could speak early in February.
The highest-level negotiations between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian war in 2011 would take place at such a summit. Regarding the potential timing of such a meeting, there has been no official Syrian response.
