Ibrahim Kalin, adviser to the Turkish president, said that the implementation of a ground military operation in Syria is still a possibility, while the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Miqdad, confirmed that ending what he called the Turkish "occupation" is a condition for normalizing relations between the two sides.
Kalin said in an interview with a number of foreign media that Ankara continues to support the path that began at the end of last December when the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met in Moscow.
But he added that "a ground operation remains possible at any time, depending on the level of threats."
The Turkish president's adviser spoke of the possibility of holding a new meeting between the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers, prior to the upcoming meeting in mid-February between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
"We want security on our borders," Kalin added, referring to the presence of Kurdish forces on Syrian territory.
He added, "We never target the Syrian state or Syrian civilians," but he stated that the security guarantees promised by Russia and the United States after the recent Turkish operation in Syria in 2019 "were not adhered to," and that the Kurdish fighters did not withdraw 30 kilometers from the border as well. was promised.
With regard to the political situation inside Turkey, Kalin stated that the next Turkish elections will be held next May and not in June as was scheduled, indicating that the date has not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad confirmed, after meeting his Iranian counterpart in Damascus today, Saturday, that Turkey is required to end its military presence in Syria before achieving a full rapprochement between the two sides.
Al-Miqdad stated, "It is not possible to talk about restoring normal relations with Turkey without removing the occupation."
The minister thus repeated what Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced, the day before yesterday, Thursday, when he stressed that the Syrian-Turkish meetings under the auspices of Russia must be based on ending the "occupation" in order for them to be fruitful, as he put it.