Bashar Assad of Syria told the Parliament in Damascus that efforts to restore ties with Türkiye did not produce tangible results.
"The initiatives did not yield any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators," Assad said in a speech on Sunday to the Parliament, referring to conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.
Türkiye severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported the opposition.
"The solution is openness," Assad said. "Restoring a relationship requires first removing the causes that led to its destruction." The Syrian president made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.
For the first time since relations soured over unrest that began in Syria in 2011, Erdoğan in July said Türkiye would extend a formal invitation to Assad, who was once a close friend. Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together. His invitation came after the Syrian leader in June said Damascus was open to all initiatives to revive Turkish-Syrian relations “as long as they are based on respecting the sovereignty of the Syrian state over all its territory and fighting all forms of terrorism.”
Türkiye repeatedly declared that its support for the Syrian opposition’s armed forces primarily aims to ensure a terrorist-free northern Syria immediately across the Turkish border, which suffered several cross-border attacks by terrorist group PKK in the past, and that it respects Syria’s sovereignty.
The Damascus-based regime and Ankara sought reconciliation in 2023 with talks sponsored by Assad’s main backers, Russia and Iran, but so far, meetings of Turkish and Syrian regime ministers have failed to produce a solid result in normalization.
Turkish-Syrian relations saw a decline in 1998 when Türkiye accused Syria of supporting the PKK.
Tensions further escalated in 2011 due to the start of the Syrian civil war and a subsequent influx of migrants numbering over 4 million.
The push for restoring relations also comes after recent riots in central Türkiye that targeted Syrian refugees and led to vandalism of their residences and businesses. The riots triggered suspicions that the riots, coupled with anti-Turkish attacks in Syria’s north, maybe the work of a wider provocation as they later spilled over into several Turkish cities.
