Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday hosted officials from the Syrian opposition in the capital Ankara for discussions, reiterating Ankara’s support to the opposition amid normalization steps with the Bashar Assad regime.
The minister met with Syrian Opposition Coalition President Salem al-Meslet, Syrian Negotiations Commission head Badr Jamous and the prime minister of the provisional government, Abdulrahman Mustafa.
"We addressed the recent developments regarding Syria and reiterated our support for the Syrian opposition and the Syrian people in line with the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254," the top Turkish diplomat said on Twitter.
Russia's long-standing effort to open a channel of dialogue between Türkiye and the Assad regime paid off last year, as the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Russia and the Assad regime met in Moscow on Dec. 28.
Çavuşoğlu said he expects to meet his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Moscow in the second half of January. The Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers had a brief informal exchange on the sidelines of a regional summit in 2021 and Ankara acknowledged the intelligence contacts.
In November, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said a meeting with Assad was a possibility after cutting diplomatic ties with Damascus throughout the 11-year conflict.
In mid-December, he hinted he could meet with Assad after the meeting of both countries’ defense and foreign ministers. “We want to take a step as Syria, Türkiye and Russia,” he had said.
Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said it was "too early to say right now" when the two presidents might meet.
"How all of this unfolds depends on the regime's attitude," Kalın told NTV television."Türkiye has extended its hand. We do not think that they will leave this hand hanging."
“From the beginning, we said that this crisis cannot be solved by deepening the war but only through negotiations within the parameters of the U.N. However, the regime resisted. It sabotaged the constitutional process with several excuses and obstructed the Astana process,” Kalın further said.
“Our main concern is that the war does not continue and that the terrorist attacks originating from Syria do not pose a threat to Turkey and that the humanitarian crisis does not deepen. Without our operations, a terror corridor would have been established in the region. Syria must be cleared of terrorist organizations and a safe return must be provided for refugees.”
Kalın confirmed that Ankara was now pressing Damascus "to take steps for the return of refugees and the humane treatment of displaced Syrians."
“We want to see the steps that the regime will take for the return of migrants and the humane treatment of displaced Syrians,” he underlined.
Kalın also reiterated support for the opposition, saying that they will play a key role in the future of Syria.
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decadelong Syrian war. Turkish backing has been vital to sustaining moderate Syrian opposition in their last significant territorial foothold in the northwest after Assad defeated the opponent across the rest of the country, aided by Russia and Iran.
The meetings come after the recent launch of Türkiye's Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, which have illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.
The country’s air operation followed a PKK/YPG terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul’s crowded Istiklal Street that killed six people and left 81 injured.
After the air operation was launched, Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation to northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terrorist threat, adding that “this is not limited to just an air operation.”
The president specified northern Syria’s PKK/YPG-controlled Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Ain al-Arab (also known as Kobani) regions as possible targets to clear of terrorists.
Similarly speaking on the issue, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday said that Türkiye will not take any steps that will put the opposition in a difficult position.
Having met with his Russian and Syrian counterparts recently, Akar said that it was agreed to continue these meetings.
“We may expand joint patrols with Russia in Syria’s north,” he pointed out.
“Our hope is that this process will continue in a reasonable, logical and successful manner and that the fight against terrorism will take place successfully. Another wish of ours is that our Syrian brothers and sisters we host in Türkiye return to their homes and lands voluntarily, safely and with dignity.”
The U.S., Türkiye’s NATO ally, made clear its opposition to improving relations with Assad.
"We do not support countries upgrading their relations or expressing support to rehabilitate the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters when asked about the Moscow meeting.
"We urge states to carefully consider the Assad regime's atrocious human rights record of the past 12 years as it continues to inflict atrocities on the Syrian people and to deny access to life-saving humanitarian aid," Price said.
Assad, helped by Russian airpower, has largely restored control over Syria after the conflict that has killed half a million people, displaced half of the country's prewar population and saw the rise of the Daesh terrorist group.
With last year registering the lowest death toll since the conflict erupted, a growing number of countries have been accepting Assad as a victor. He flew in March 2022 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a U.S. ally, on his first trip to another Arab state since the war began.
