Syria does not want summit with Turkey – Resists Russian mediation

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Erdogan’s government is backing rebels who have tried to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has accused the Syrian leader of state terrorism

Syria is resisting Russia’s efforts to broker a summit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, three sources said today, following more than a decade of hostility between Damascus and Ankara since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

The government Erdogan backs rebels who have tried to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has accused the Syrian leader of state terrorism, saying earlier during the war that peace efforts could not continue with Assad in power.

The Syrian president emphasizes that the Turkey it is the one supporting terrorism by supporting militants, including Islamist factions, and repeatedly launching military incursions into northern Syria. Another possible operation is being prepared by Ankara, accusing the Syrian Kurdish fighters of a bomb attack in Istanbul.

Russia helped Assad turn the tide of the war in Damascus’ favor, and Moscow says it is seeking an end to the war through political means, while it wants to bring the two leaders together for talks.

Erdogan has hinted that he is ready for a rapprochement.

Last month, Erdogan exchanged a warm handshake with its president Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, having previously stated numerous times that he would not meet a leader who came to power in a coup. Last weekend the Turkish president said Ankara could “also put things on track with Syria.”

“There can be no grudges in politics,” he said in a televised debate.

Russia’s mediation proposal

However, three sources familiar with Syria’s position on potential talks said Assad rejected an offer to meet Erdogan along with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Two of the sources said Damascus believed such a meeting could give Erdogan a boost ahead of Turkish elections next year, especially if that meeting discussed Ankara’s goal of repatriating some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees from Turkey.

“Why give Erdogan a free victory? No approach will be taken before the elections,” said one of the two sources, adding that Syria had also rejected the idea of ​​a meeting at the level of foreign ministers.

The third source, a diplomat familiar with the proposal, said that Damascus “considers such a meeting useless if it does not focus on something concrete, and what the Syrians have asked for so far is the complete withdrawal of Turkish military forces.”

Turkish threats to invade Syria

Turkish officials said this week that the Turkish military needs only a few days to be ready for a ground invasion of northern Syria, where it has already carried out artillery and air strikes.

But the government has also said it is open to talks with Damascus if they focus on border security, where Ankara wants Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters pushed back from the border and refugees moved to “safe zones”.

An Assad-Erdogan meeting could be possible “in the not too distant future,” said a source familiar with Turkey’s approach to the matter.

“Putin is slowly preparing the way for that,” the source said. “It would be the beginning of a big change in Syria and it would have very positive results for Turkey. Russia will also benefit… since it is spread over many areas.”

RES-EMP

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