For Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian-Turkish meetings must "end the Turkish occupation"
A photo released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (left) receiving Russia's special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev (right) and his delegation who accompanies in the capital Damascus on January 12, 2023. AFP - -
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2 mins
Commenting for the first time on the Syrian-Turkish meetings in progress, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad estimated this Thursday, January 12 that the goal of this step sponsored by Russia should be "
the end of the Turkish occupation
" of Syrian territory. .
Meanwhile, on the ground, clashes continue between Damascus troops on one side, the Turkish army and its Syrian allies on the other.
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With our correspondent in the region,
Paul Khalifeh
For Bashar al-Assad, meetings between Syrian and Turkish officials can only be “
fruitful
” if they have the objective of “
ending the Turkish occupation in Syria and support for terrorism
”.
The Syrian head of state, who received the Kremlin's special envoy for Syria on Thursday, stressed that the Syrian-Turkish meetings "
must be based on prior coordination and planning
" between Damascus and Moscow.
These remarks come after a meeting in December in Moscow, between the Turkish, Syrian and Russian Defense Ministers.
The first since the start of the war in Syria, during which Ankara actively supported the rebels who wanted to overthrow Syrian power.
A few hours before Bashar al-Assad's declaration, the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu affirmed that he had not ruled out a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Fayçal al-Mokdad in the presence of Sergei Lavrov.
“
As soon as possible, maybe early February
,” he says.
But Syrian sources quoted by the pan-Arab channel al-Mayadeen, close to Damascus, denied the words of the Turkish minister.
"
Such a meeting can only take place if there is an agreement on its objective, which is the end of the Turkish occupation of part of Syria
", specified the Syrian source.
Despite this diplomatic "flirt", the front where the Turkish and Syrian armies face each other heated up again on Thursday.
Three Syrian officers, including a general, were killed in a Turkish bombardment north of Aleppo, according to the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
►Read again: In northeastern Syria, the Kurds are worried about the consequences of the Turkish attacks
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Syria
Turkey
Russia
Bashar al-Assad
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Vladimir Poutine
Kurds