Al-Assad: Meetings with Turkey must be based on ending the occupation

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad considered, on Thursday, according to a statement issued by the presidency, that the Syrian-Turkish meetings under the auspices of Russia must be based on ending the occupation, i.e. the Turkish military presence, "in order for them to be fruitful," in his first comment on the rapprochement between the two countries after A break that lasted 11 years.

At the end of last month, the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met in Moscow, in the first official meeting at this level between the two countries since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, and a meeting at the level of the two foreign ministers is also supposed to be held soon.

Al-Assad said after his meeting with the Russian special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, that "in order for these meetings to be fruitful, they must be based on coordination and prior planning between Syria and Russia in order to reach the tangible goals and results that Syria wants from these meetings, based on the national constants and principles of the state and the people." based on ending the occupation and stopping support for terrorism.”

Before the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, Turkey was a key economic and political ally of Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has developed a friendship with Assad.

However, the relationship between the two parties turned upside down with the start of protests against the Syrian government in Syria.

Ankara initially called on its ally to carry out political reforms, before Erdogan called on Assad to step down.

Over the past years, Turkey has provided support to the political opposition and the fighting factions in Syria.

Since 2016, following three military operations against Kurdish fighters, Turkish forces and loyal Syrian factions have been controlling a large border area in northern Syria.

Damascus considers the Turkish military presence in the north of the country an occupation.

After an 11-year estrangement, signs of rapprochement emerged during the last period, which culminated in a meeting in Moscow between Russian Defense Ministers Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Syrian Ali Mahmoud Abbas on December 28.

He is supposed to meet the foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria soon.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the end of last month that it was agreed to hold a tripartite meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Russia in the second half of January.

However, the date has not yet been set, and the location of the meeting has not been clarified.

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