Syria stresses Turkey withdrawal ‘entry point’ for normalization
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – As meetings between delegations participating in the 20th round of Astana Peace Talks on Syria are under way on Tuesday, head of the Syrian delegation affirmed that any normalization between Syria and Turkey requires that the latter withdraws forces from Syria.
Works of the 20th round of Astana set off earlier today in the Kazakh capital, and a four-way meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers of Syria, Russia, Turkey, and Iran is taking place over restoring ties between Syria and Turkey.
State-run SANA News Agency cited Ayman Sousan, Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister, who is heading the Syrian delegation, as saying that the Turkish withdrawal from the Syrian territories constitutes the only entry point for any normal relations between the two countries.
Sousan also stressed that “ensuring border security is a common responsibility of neighboring countries.”
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran met in Moscow on May 10 marking the highest-level talks between Ankara and Damascus since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
Government officials of Syria and Turkey have held a number of meetings since last year. In December of 2022, Russia hosted first talks between Syrian and Turkish defense ministers since 2011.
Turkey, during the years of war, brokered the opposition factions against the Syrian government and conducted a number of military operations, during which it cut Syrian parts.
Turkey launched three military operations against northern and northeastern regions in Syria. The first was “Euphrates Shield” operation in 2016 where it occupied Jarablus and al-Bab, the second was “Olive Branch” operation in 2018 where it occupied Afrin region, and the third was “Peace Spring” in 2019 which resulted in the occupation of the two cities of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad with their countryside.
For his part, Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and African Countries, Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said that normalization between the two neighboring countries “is a very important process that must be based on the principles of mutual respect, territorial integrity, unity of states, and territorial sovereignty of Syria and Turkey.”