Türkiye does not have preconditions for dialogue with the Syrian regime and talks should be goal-oriented, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Tuesday.
Türkiye follows a "results-oriented" policy in Syria, the top diplomat noted, stressing the importance of the country's territorial integrity and the need to clear terrorist organizations from it.
"There are no preconditions for dialogue, but what is the purpose of the talks? The country needs to be cleared of terrorists, our border security is important, and Syria's territorial integrity and political integrity are important. It is important that people can return to the country safely. It's not necessarily a requirement, but what are its purpose and goal? Our Syria policy is always solution-oriented," Çavuşoğlu said speaking to Haber Global news broadcaster in the capital Ankara.
Çavuşoğlu also ruled out a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad at the summit slated for Sept. 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, adding that Assad was "not invited" to the event.
There will be no meeting between Erdoğan and Assad at an upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in September, Çavuşoğlu said.
The minister also underlined that steps must be taken for lasting peace in Syria, adding that the regime should not see the opposition as terrorists.
"From the very beginning, Türkiye said that the most important process is the political one," he said.
Türkiye has backed opposition groups fighting to topple the Assad regime and cut diplomatic relations with Damascus early in the 11-year conflict.
But Russian intervention has helped Assad's regime drive the opposition back to a pocket of northwest Syria. Erdoğan said after talks in Russia earlier this month that President Vladimir Putin had suggested Türkiye cooperate with the Syrian regime to tackle violence along their joint border.
Erdoğan has warned that Türkiye could launch another military operation into northern Syria targeting the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group, the YPG, to extend a "safe zone" where Ankara says some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it currently hosts could return.
Asked last week about potential talks with Damascus, Erdoğan was quoted as saying diplomacy between states can never be fully severed. There is a "need to take further steps with Syria," he said.
Türkiye’s aim in Syria is not to defeat Assad but to find a political solution to the decadelong crisis in the country, Erdoğan said recently.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from Lviv, Ukraine, Erdoğan said: “We have always been part of the solution. In the Syrian problem, we have always taken responsibility. Our aim is regional peace and protecting our country from significant threats of the crisis.”
Erdoğan stressed that Ankara does not have designs on Syria and that the country's territorial integrity is important to Türkiye.
"We do not have eyes on the territory of Syria because the people of Syria are our brothers. We have no such problem there. The integrity of their territory is important to us. The regime must be aware of this," he noted.
Erdoğan said Ankara takes responsibility to solve the Syrian problem for regional peace and protect Türkiye from threats, adding: "We need to know and accept this for once. Political dialogue or diplomacy between states can never be cut off. There are always these kinds of dialogues, there should be."
The president’s words come after Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu last week called for reconciliation between the Syrian regime and the opposition.
In July, Türkiye, Russia and Iran pledged to maintain cooperation in Syria to decisively defeat terrorist organizations in the region. The Astana meeting was initiated by Türkiye, Iran and Russia to bring the warring sides in Syria together to find a permanent solution to the decadelong war. The main agenda items have been the constitutional system, political transition, security and resettlement. The first Astana meeting was held in Türkiye in January 2017 to facilitate United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.
A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December 2015 unanimously endorsed a road map to peace in Syria that was approved in Geneva on June 30, 2012, by representatives of the U.N., the Arab League, the European Union, Türkiye and all five permanent Security Council members – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain.
It calls for a Syrian-led political process starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. The resolution says the free and fair elections should meet “the highest international standards” of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians – including members of the diaspora – eligible to participate.
Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. U.N. estimates show that more than 8 million Syrians have either been internally displaced or become refugees in other countries since 2011. The Syrian regime held presidential elections in May in which authorities say Assad won 95.1% of the votes.
