File image.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 5 that he might invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Turkey.
“We, together with Russian President Vladimir Putin, may have an invitation to Bashar al-Assad,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists on his return flight from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where he attended a two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. “If Mr. Putin can visit Turkey, this could be the beginning of a new process.”
“The passing years in Syria have clearly shown everyone the need for establishing a permanent solution,” he said.
Erdogan also said that recent regional tranquility on the matter could open the door to peace with policies and approaches that are free from prejudices.
“It is a problem that the instability in the region provides space for terrorist organizations, especially the PKK[Kurdistan Workers’ Party], PYD [Democratic Union Party] and YPG [People’s Defense Units],” he said.
The eradication of these Kurdish groups is vital for Syria’s future, Erdogan added, advocating for the establishment of democratic foundations and inclusive peace initiatives based on upholding the country’s territorial integrity.
“We have always extended and will continue to extend a hand of friendship to our neighbor Syria. We would stand by a prosperous, unified Syria based on a fair, honorable, and inclusive new social contract. All we ask is that Syria initiates this great embrace and achieves recovery in every aspect,” the Turkish President said.
He also noted that “terrorist organizations” such as the PKK and its offshoots are worried about Ankara’s renewed ties with Damascus.
It’s worth noting that Erdogan and Putin met on the sideline of the SCO. The situation in Syria was reportedly among the key topics discussed by the two leaders.
Speaking last week to Russia’s Syria envoy, Alexander Lavrentyev, Assad said that “Syria has welcomed” all reconciliation initiatives with Turkey after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month that his government was working on reconciliation between Ankara and Damascus.
Also last week, Erdogan said that he was ready to talk to the Syrian president. The remarks and attacks on Syrian refugees earlier this week destabilized Turkish-controlled areas in northern Syria on July 1.
Unprecedented protests took place there, with demonstrators attacking cars and trucks with Turkish plates, damaging and burning some of them. Seven deaths were reported.
Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Ankara, along with its western partners, supported the Syrian rebels, cutting ties with Assad.
Direct talks between high-level Turkish and Syrian officials launched by Russia in 2022 faltered as the Syrian government pressed for Turkish forces to withdraw from the country.
The growing threat of the de facto Kurdish-led autonomous region in northern and eastern Syria, which is backed by the United States, and the issues caused by millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey are clearly motivating Erdogan to resume talks with Assad. Still, a meeting between the two does not appear to be near.
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