DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for a trilateral meeting with both his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and that of Russia Vladimir Putin confirms Ankara’s strong desire to achieve rapprochement with Damascus as a part of its efforts to achieve its goals in north the country.
On December 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, during his way back from Turkmenistan to Turkey, “I offered Putin to organize a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Syria.”
Putin responded positively to the initiative that may be a start for a “series of negotiations,” according to Erdogan.
However, silence was broken in the Syrian capital Damascus, as it has been emerged that al-Assad has rejected a Russian-brokered bid to reconcile with Erdogan.
The Syrian government position
Although the government’s position on the possible rapprochement with Ankara seems clear, it has always denounced the “Turkish occupation” and demanded Turkey’s total withdrawal from Syrian territory, but it cannot be bet on, according to observers.
On December 7, Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) member and former MP, Orhan Miroglu, revealed Damascus’ rejection of Ankara’s request to arrange a meeting between Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart before the Turkish elections scheduled for 2023.
Miroglu, in a press statement, said Syria intends to postpone the meeting until after the Turkish presidential elections planned for June 2023.
Reuters also quoted three sources in Damascus, earlier this month, as saying that their government is resisting Russian efforts to mediate a meeting between the Syrian presidents and Erdogan.
Al-Assad had rejected a proposal to meet Erdogan with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin since Turkey supports opposition factions, known as Syrian National Army (SNA (, according to the three sources.
Damascus believes that such a meeting could “boost” Erdogan ahead of Turkish elections of 2023, especially if it addressed Ankara’s goal of returning some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees from Turkey, the sources added.
Syria had also turned down the idea of a foreign ministers’ meeting.
One of the citied sources, a diplomat with knowledge of the proposal, said that Syria sees such a meeting useless and does not come with anything concrete.
What Syria has asked for so far is the full withdrawal of Turkish troops, the source added.
Solution in Russia’s eye
On Dec. 16, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said the situation on the border between Turkey and Syria remains difficult, but it can be resolved if the concerns of both sides are taken into account.
Vershinin said the situation on the border between Turkey and Syria was still difficult, but could be resolved if the concerns of both sides were taken into account.
He added in a press statement on Dec. 17 “The situation on the Syrian-Turkish border is in fact difficult, but I believe that if we address the fears of both sides on the basis of firm commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, the situation can be resolved.”
He pointed out this result will be beneficial not only for both countries, but also for “the stability of the entire region.”
On Dec.16, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said, “We are not unanimous in all respects, but we are in touch with our Turkish partners. This is a hard fact.”
Bogdanov said Moscow received Erdogan’s proposal to hold a trilateral meeting between leaders of Turkey, Syria and Russia “very positively.”
Russia continuously welcomes and expresses readiness to provide assistance in achieving rapprochement between Syria and Turkey.
Bogdanov stressed his country is holding communications with “Syrian friends.”
Syrians reject rapprochement
Hours after the Turkish president’s new statement regarding the trilateral meeting, calls have risen in the Syrian opposition-held areas in Idlib and Aleppo countryside to protest against the moves of the “Turkish guarantor” regarding rapprochement.
Successive statements by Turkish officials seem to have begun to raise the residents and IDPs’ fears in opposition-held areas, and they have always expressed disappointment by their Turkish guarantor and gone to streets, organizing wide-scale protests against those statements that call for normalization, according to previous reports by the North press.
Activists in Syrian opposition-held areas in northwest Syria and north of Aleppo called on Dec. 16 for staging demonstrations against the potential rapprochement between Turkey and Syria.
These calls were made by activists from the cities of Azaz and Idlib to demonstrate in Future Square in the city center of Azaz under title “Holding al-Assad accountable rather than reconciling with him.”