At landmark talks between the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Syria's Bashar Assad regime, Russia and Iran in Moscow, the sides have agreed to continue normalization talks between Ankara and Damascus and made headway in discussions for the safe return of Syrian refugees, according to Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
"The highlight of the Moscow meeting was the territorial integrity of Syria where everyone expressed their opinions blatantly," Çavuşoğlu said Thursday in an exclusive interview with Turkish television network A Haber.
The Turkish-Syrian normalization process will go forward within the framework of a road map and a working group compromising of the deputy foreign ministers of the four countries will be set up to discuss the next phase of talks, the Turkish diplomat informed.
This means a meeting between the leaders, namely President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, is possible once a road map is determined, Çavuşoğlu said.
Wednesday's quadrilateral meeting in Moscow was the latest initiative by Russia and Iran to persuade Ankara and the Assad regime to restore ties through talks after the neighbors’ relations soured in the wake of the 2011 unrest that escalated into a civil war in Syria.
Russia has spent years trying to help Assad by repairing ties with Türkiye and other countries amid a civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million.
Moscow intervened militarily in Syria starting in September 2015, teaming up with Iran to help Assad’s government reclaim most of the country. It has maintained a military presence in the Mideast country even as most of its forces are fighting in Ukraine.
Throughout the 12-year conflict, Türkiye has backed the opposition as the Assad regime frequently denounced Ankara’s support that paved the way for liberating Syria’s north from terrorist groups like the PKK, its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, and Daesh.
Negotiations between Türkiye and Syria accelerated after the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed more than 56,000 people combined in both countries.
Çavuşoğlu on Thursday further emphasized that Türkiye did not covet Syrian land and stressed that Turkish military operations in northern Syria only target terrorist groups, especially the PKK/YPG, which controlled much of the region after Assad’s troops withdrew in 2012.
"We have rid the region of Daesh and the PKK," Çavuşoğlu said, adding that the Turkish military was aiming to prevent the formation of a terror corridor across the border.
Since 2016, Ankara has been striking terrorist targets with cross-border operations and working to enable the peaceful settlements of residents. Turkish officials have recently been floating the idea of cooperating with Damascus in the upcoming period on counterterrorism efforts as the PKK/YPG still controls much of the war-torn country’s east, making it impossible for Assad to establish territorial integrity.
"The PKK’s plans to divide Syria are plain and obvious and some countries support that," Çavuşoğlu remarked in a thinly veiled reference to consistent U.S. support for the PKK/YPG.
Washington has been a significant ally for the PKK/YPG terrorists under the pretext of fighting Daesh and its refusal to cut off arms and ammunition supply to the group remains a source of significant strain with NATO ally Türkiye.
"Preserving Syria’s territorial integrity was the top issue at our meeting in Moscow. We have also underscored the need to revive the political process in Syria, the steps to facilitating permanent stability by activating that process," Çavuşoğlu noted.
Syrian media on Wednesday quoted Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying in Moscow that Damascus looked "positively" at ongoing efforts yet reiterated Assad’s primary condition that all "illegal" military presences in the country, including that of Turkish forces, "must end" before any normalization can be achieved.
"We have discussed the safe and honorable return of Syrian refugees as well," Çavuşoğlu told A Haber and stressed the need for urgent humanitarian aid in the country, which was only exacerbated after the earthquakes.
"The fundamental conditions and necessary infrastructure must be established to ensure this, and the international community must cooperate about it all," the Turkish diplomat said.
Opposition promises
Çavuşoğlu also addressed the Turkish opposition’s recent "inhumane" remarks about "stacking and sending Syrians packing."
"This is not a way to send back some 550,000 Syrians to safe zones. Life security and honorable conditions that prepare the necessary ground must first be guaranteed," he noted.
As he campaigns for this Sunday’s critical elections, opposition leader and presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has claimed he would "mend ties with Syria" to send back Syrian refugees and "restore trust with the U.S. and Europe" against Russia while it wages war on Ukraine.
He subsequently backpedaled and promised to "get along with Russia" during a rally in Antalya, Türkiye’s southern beach resort that has long been a favorite of Russian tourists who recently began settling in the city in droves following crippling Western sanctions on Russia.
Furthermore, Ankara conducts comprehensive trade with Russia, including vital natural gas agreements that comprise 40% of Türkiye’s energy supply.
Çavuşoğlu opined that Kılıçdaroğlu’s claims had "no use to either Turkish tourism or economy."
"There is no alternative to our dealings with Russia. The West could never compensate for our losses during this period," he argued. "Making such statements to look cute to certain people is the opposite of acting in Türkiye’s interests and welfare."
Highlighting Ankara’s consistent policy of balance and mediation efforts in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Çavuşoğlu mused: "Why should Türkiye lose its international respectability over this? Just to ingratiate ourselves to the West?"