Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday that he had a quick word with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in October in Serbia's capital Belgrade.
"We need to bring the opposition and regime together for reconciliation somehow, there will be no permanent peace otherwise," he said while addressing reporters on the last day of the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Türkiye's capital Ankara.
Çavuşoğlu highlighted the necessity of a strong central administration to prevent the disintegration of Syria and this would only be possible with unity.
There must be a strong administration in Syria to prevent any division of the country, Çavuşoğlu said. "The will that can dominate every corner of its lands can only be achieved through unity and solidarity," he added.
He emphasized the need to take steps for rebuilding of civil war-torn Syria since 2011.
"No one wants to help in rebuilding without cease-fire and peace. This includes the EU, the important actors of the world, as well as the international community. Therefore, we, as Türkiye, are doing our best, but the basis for all this is a cease-fire. We will of course intensify our work in this regard."
Çavuşoğlu also stressed that Türkiye supports Syria's territorial integrity more than anyone else. "The border integrity, territorial integrity and peace of a country next to us directly affect us," he said.
The brief encounter marks the first time the top Turkish diplomat interacted with a Syrian official, as Türkiye has been backing moderate opposition groups against the Bashar Assad regime since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Also, Turkish forces carried out several cross-border operations to clear its border from the occupation of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian affiliate, the YPG, and the Daesh terrorist group in order to provide national border security and create a stable environment for local people living near Turkish borders.
In July, Türkiye, Russia and Iran pledged to maintain cooperation in Syria to decisively defeat Daesh and other terrorists.
The Astana meeting was initiated by Türkiye, Iran and Russia to bring the warring sides in Syria together to find a permanent solution to the decadelong war. The main agenda items have been the constitutional system, political transition, security and resettlement. The first Astana meeting was held in Türkiye in January 2017 to facilitate United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.
A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December 2015 unanimously endorsed a road map to peace in Syria that was approved in Geneva on June 30, 2012, by representatives of the U.N., the Arab League, the European Union, Türkiye and all five permanent Security Council members – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain.
It calls for a Syrian-led political process starting with the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. The resolution says the free and fair elections should meet “the highest international standards” of transparency and accountability, with all Syrians – including members of the diaspora – eligible to participate.
Responding to a question about a possible Turkish operation in northern Syria to eliminate terrorists, Çavuşoğlu underscored that Türkiye's counter-terrorism operations abroad are solely to eliminate the areas from terrorists.
Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. U.N. estimates show that more than 8 million Syrians have either been internally displaced or become refugees in other countries since 2011. The Syrian regime held presidential elections in May in which authorities say Assad won 95.1% of the votes.
