Turkey regrets that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not personally involved in the quadripartite mechanism aimed at normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed this sentiment during his return from Sochi, where he held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Erdogan also noted that he does not observe a positive attitude from Syria in this regard.
"Let me clarify that al-Assad is, regrettably, observing the developments within the Turkey-Russia-Iran-Syria normalization framework from a distance. In other words, he is not actively participating in these efforts. On our part, we engaged in this process with transparency and were hopeful that Syria would be actively involved. Unfortunately, we have yet to see a positive response from the Syrian side," Erdogan stated as reported by TRT Haber.
He expressed hope that eventually the Syrian leadership "will also have a seat at the negotiating table."
"It is of utmost importance that the Syrian regime aligns its actions with the realities on the ground and refrains from approaches that could undermine the process. Our primary expectations revolve around concrete actions against terrorism, the establishment of conditions conducive to the voluntary and secure return of refugees, and the reinvigoration of the political process in Syria under the auspices of the United Nations," Erdogan emphasized. Simultaneously, he firmly underscored that Turkey "prioritizes national security," and as long as terrorist "threats originating from Syria persist, Turkey will maintain its current approach." In essence, this signifies that Turkey will persist in combating these threats, including in northern Syria.
The initial meeting in the four-party format for Syria took place in Moscow on May 10, involving the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran. During this meeting, a decision was made to task deputy foreign ministers with the preparation of a roadmap for advancing relations between Damascus and Ankara. Subsequently, during the Syria meeting held in the Astana format on June 20-21, the participating parties deliberated on the draft roadmap. This was confirmed by Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syrian Settlement. He also noted that further formalization of the document is necessary.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS