Syria and Turkey.. Relying on a “friend” on the path of normalizing relations
Syria and Turkey are making a concerted effort to bring relations back to normal after a 12-year break.
Among these efforts is a planned meeting in Moscow in April of the deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia to discuss the resumption of contacts between Ankara and Damascus, suspended since the start of the crisis in Syria in 2011.
“Over the past year, Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has encouraged the two sides to hold several meetings as a step toward normalizing relations between the two neighbors.”
“But the meetings, whether scheduled or expected, did not change the position of President al-Assad, who earlier this month ruled out any meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan until Ankara withdrew its troops from northern Syria.”
“According to a senior Turkish official, the April 3-4 meeting in Moscow will discuss the situation on the ground in Syria on April 3-4 in Moscow.”
“This meeting is expected to be a continuation of the ministerial level meetings that have started during the process of restoring relations,” the official said.
“However, since there will be no participation at the ministerial level, and the meeting will be at the technical level, it is not expected that important decisions will be taken,” he added.
“Last December, the defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey held talks in Moscow on regional stability.”
“The tripartite talks then expanded to include al-Assad’s other ally, Iran, which has openly supported the rapprochement.”
A meeting of foreign ministers from the four countries scheduled for March was postponed.
This rapprochement did not prevent Turkey from warning in January that it might launch a ground military operation in Syria “at any time.”
“A ground military operation in Syria is possible at any time, based on the level of threats received,” said Ibrahim Alan, a senior advisor to the Turkish presidency.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad commented earlier on the meetings between Turkish and Syrian officials, saying, “In order for these meetings to be fruitful, they must be based on coordination and advance planning between Syria and Russia in order to reach the goals and concrete results that Syria wants from these meetings.”
Turkey sent troops into most of northern Syria during the war and has supported the Syrian opposition.
Turkey is carrying out a military operation in northern Syria, saying it is targeting members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), while Damascus considers Turkey’s military presence an “occupation”.
Prior to the Syrian crisis, Turkey had been a key economic and political ally to Damascus, and a friendship between Turkish President Erdogan and Syrian President al-Assad had been forged, but that relationship “turned upside down” in 2011.
Turkey, then its ally, called for “political reforms,” but the latter did not respond, prompting Ankara to escalate and demand that al-Assad step down, and has supported armed opposition factions.
The rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus comes ahead of Turkey’s presidential election in May, which is expected to witness fierce competition.
Erdoğan seems to want to complete normalization of relations with Syria as soon as possible, to use it as an electoral card that could well decide the presidential race in his favor, given the anticipated fierce opposition competition.
