It has been openly declared that the normalization process between Türkiye and Syria is aiming for a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syria’s Bashar Assad.
Russia is not bothered by Ankara's relations with Damascus; in fact, Türkiye has developed its relations with Russia due to Ankara's mediative role in negotiations related to the Ukraine war. In relation to Damascus, Moscow sees that Türkiye’s involvement in the shaping process of Syria will weaken the United States’ dominance in the field.
Iran, another actor in the region, was trying to predict how narrow its role in Syria's future would be if a new page was opened between Ankara and Damascus. Iran's aid to Syria has exceeded $20 billion and Tehran has been pushing for cooperation in all fields, especially energy, for a while. That's why Iranian officials are trying to be included in the normalization contact.
"We are pleased that relations with Damascus have changed," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu during their meeting in the capital Ankara.
The Assad regime, meanwhile, seems to be stuck in the past instead of finding a solution to the gangrene wound in the country. Damascus sees Türkiye, which is struggling with terrorist groups, including Daesh, as the primary problem, instead of the U.S., which is dragging Syria into chaos through terrorist organizations such as the PKK and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG.
Yes, the two countries have been hostile toward each other in the past. We have not forgotten the bombs that exploded in the cities of Türkiye’s border regions.
However, the past is the past. Think about what Türkiye and Russia went through. In Ankara, Moscow had Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov killed by a member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) disguised as a police officer. Türkiye shot down Russia's plane. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Erdoğan later realized they were caught in a cycle of mutual frustration.
In addition, Türkiye revealed a radical transformation of will in the Syrian policy shaped by the preferences of Ahmet Davutoğlu during his ministry of foreign affairs and prime ministership. Türkiye is conducting counterterrorism operations against Daesh and the PKK/YPG in Syria because Damascus has not fulfilled its duty. It also creates safe zones across the border for the return of Syrian refugees, who are a burden to Türkiye.
In short, the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Syria is a burden for Türkiye. Ankara does not earn a single penny from Syria, where it constantly spends money.
As of now, we can say that Türkiye is the only country that benefits from Syria's territorial integrity. President Erdoğan also repeats this frequently. However, the fact that Damascus acts as if it is in no rush in negotiations means that the U.S. gains time to take advantage of “the spoil” in Syria.
Speaking about the allegation that the U.S. Army transferred 53 oil-laden tankers from Syria's Hasakah province to their bases in Iraq on Jan. 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin openly describes what happened as “looting.”
Noting that the Assad regime's official data indicate that more than 80% of the oil extracted in Syria in the first half of 2022 was smuggled out of the country by the U.S. occupation forces, Wang warns: “This banditry is deepening the energy and humanitarian crisis in Syria. The right to live of the Syrian people is being violated by the U.S. The Syrian people will try to survive the black winter with little oil and food.”
Apparently, Assad, who is stuck in his capital, has a hard time understanding what is going on. Otherwise, he would have realized that he is playing into the hands of the U.S., which strongly opposes the dialogue of third countries with Damascus, by slowing down the negotiations with Türkiye, which is fighting the PKK/YPG carrying out the “oil looting” on the field.
