Türkiye Says ‘Final Step’ Required before Proposed Erdogan, Assad Meeting

Demonstrators raise Syrian opposition flags and placards as they rally against a potential rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian regime, on December 30, 2022, in the opposition-held city of al-Bab, on the border with Türkiye, in Syria's northern Aleppo province. (AFP)

Syrian regime media reported that Türkiye has agreed to fully withdraw its military from northern Syria following tripartite talks it held with Damascus and Moscow. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said such a move requires progress in the political process there. 

“Our defense minister and intelligence chief presented our position and the necessary explanation during the meeting in Moscow,” Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday.  

“We always say that if there is a vacuum, terrorist organizations should not fill this void,” he added, explaining that his country is aware of Syrian sovereignty over the territories where Turkish forces are stationed.  

The top diplomat moved on to affirm that Türkiye has no “ambitions” of taking over Syrian lands. 

“We support the territorial integrity of Syria, but there must be stability in northern Syria, and some steps must be taken in the political process,” he remarked.  

“We have been saying this for a long time,” he stressed.  

Last Wednesday, defense ministers of Russia, Türkiye and Syria held talks in Moscow.  

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow along with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.  

The three countries’ heads of intelligence were also present at the meeting.  

The meeting dealt, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, with the issue of “the safe return of Syrian refugees, cooperation in combating terrorist organizations and the political process in Syria.” 

Discussions between Turkish and Syrian intelligence services had paved the way for the high-level meeting.  

Moreover, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, in previous statements, that he offered Russian President Vladimir Putin a summit meeting, preceded by a meeting of the heads of the intelligence services and the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.  

Cavusoglu said that the next step after the defense ministers' meeting “will be to hold a meeting of foreign ministers, and that he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the matter.”