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Turkey is yet to provide any guarantees affirming that it would withdraw its forces from Syria, Al-Mayadeen TV reported on September 4, citing Syrian sources with knowledge on efforts to reconcile the two countries.
The sources told the Lebanese news channel that there is still no assurances or guarantees regarding a Turkish withdrawal from Syria, noting that “there is nothing new in the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on this matter.”
There is no “indication that necessitates holding any meeting at the ministerial or presidential level between Syria and Turkey anytime soon,” the sources added.
On August 31, Lavrov announced that a meeting involving Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Syria to discuss the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus would take place soon.
“The Turks are ready for this [withdrawal], but so far it has not been possible to agree on specific terms,” the minister said at the time. “We are talking about the return of refugees, and the measures necessary to suppress the terrorist threat, which will make the stay of the Turkish contingents unnecessary. All of this is in the works.”
Speaking to Al-Mayadeen, the sources maintained that the principles announced by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which allow for the restoration of relations between the two countries, including determining a reference in which the negotiation process is based on international law, are still standing.
They stressed that one of these principles is the recognition of the withdrawal from Syrian territory, with the agreement on how this would happen left for later.
Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the war, in which it supported rebels looking to oust Assad. Ankara’s involvement grew dramatically in the last eight years, as its forces took over large parts of northern and eastern Syria.
Earlier this year, Russia stepped up efforts to reconcile Syria and Turkey, with both Iran and Iraq intervening to help. The process saw some progress with both Assad and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressing readiness to meet.
Nevertheless, the issue of Turkish military presence in Syria appears to have brought the process to halt yet again, with Ankara unwilling to compromise.
Despite the fact that both sides are facing the same issues, like the growing influence of Kurdish forces, a breakthrough remains highly unlikely, at least for the time being.
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