Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in Damascus on January 12. Source: the Syrian Presidency Office.
On January 12, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that talks with Turkey should be based on the aims of ending the occupation of Syrian territory and halting support for terrorist groups in the war-torn country.
Assad made the remarks during a meeting with Russian presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in the Damascus. This was the president first comment on the ongoing Russian-sponsored talks with Ankara, which saw a major breakthrough in December when the defense ministers of the two countries met in Moscow.
“The meetings [with Turkey] should be coordinated between Syria and Russia in advance in order to… produce tangible results sought by Syria,” the Syrian Arab News Agency quoted the president as saying.
The president added that the results of the talks should be based on the principle of ending the “occupation” and support for terrorism”.
From his side, Lavrentiev said that Moscow viewed the defence ministers’ meeting “positively” and hoped to develop talks “to the level of foreign ministers.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a live broadcast on the same day that he could meet his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad early in February. Originally, the meeting was supposed to take place in mid-January.
The remarks of Assad and Cavusoglu indicate the presence of some key differences between the two sides. Lavrentiev visit to Damascus was likely meant to address this.
Ankara broke ties with Damascus early on in the Syrian war. Today, it is the main backer of Syrian rebels and its military occupies vast parts of the country’s northern region. Damascus believes that this situation should change in order to restore ties with Ankara.
