Asharq Al-Awsat

Türkiye has conveyed new messages about maintaining efforts to restore normal ties with Syria, despite Damascus’ insistence on the Turkish military withdrawal, which currently seems to be far-fetched.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had intensified talk about this matter in recent weeks, ordering the fulfillment of the Syrian demand, and stressing that his country attaches great importance to increasing the number of its friends.
This came a day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced that he would not oppose meeting with the Turkish president.
“In a period when our region is constantly on edge, establishing new equations in foreign policy is not just a choice but a necessity for Türkiye,” Erdogan said in his address after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening.
He stressed that he could not allow anyone to confine Türkiye within “their narrow molds,” adding: “We neither turn our back on the East for the West nor neglect the West for the East.”
He continued: “We advance our relations with everyone, starting from our neighbors, in line with the interests of our country.”
Everyone must understand that increasing regional cooperation and solidarity will strengthen resilience against growing threats, the Turkish president underlined, adding: “Otherwise, we cannot prevent our region’s borders from being redrawn with bloodshed and tears as they were a century ago.”
He said that Türkiye sincerely hopes for the resolution of conflicts through mutual dialogue at the negotiation table.
In the same context, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Guler stressed that his country does not set its sights on anyone’s land or sovereign rights, and that Ankara’s battle is against terrorist organizations that harm peace and prosperity in the region.
During a meeting with the commanders of the armed forces, Guler said: “We are closely following developments in Syria, and I would like to remind you that the fate of Syria will be determined by its people, not those who rejoice in their sadness.”
Meanwhile, the United States announced that it does not support Türkiye’s efforts to normalize relations with Assad, stressing that these attempts will not yield results.
On Wednesday, Turkish media quoted a US State Department spokesman as saying that the United States’ position is clear and that it does not accept the normalization of ties with the Assad government without taking serious steps to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.