The intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Syria, Russia and Iran may meet to normalize ties between Ankara and Damascus, Turkish media reported Tuesday.
It said that Ankara’s normalization strategy with countries usually follows the steps of deputy intelligence head-level meetings, which are followed by meetings of the intelligence chiefs.
If the necessary conditions can be established, the relevant ministers meet, which again is followed by a leader-level meeting.
The report said that the first meeting can be held if the Bashar Assad regime drops its insistence on the precondition that Turkish troops withdraw from Syria.
Ankara’s main priorities for the normalization, on the other hand, are the fight against terrorism, the return of refugees, the establishment of border security and the revival of the Astana process.
Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two countries’ leaders to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together.
In July, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he might invite Assad to Türkiye "at any moment," in a sign of reconciliation.
His invitation came after the Syrian leader last month 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.”
Turkish-Syrian relations saw a decline in 1998 when Türkiye accused Syria of supporting the PKK, a terrorist group responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in its decadeslong terror campaign against Türkiye.
Tensions further escalated in 2011 due to the start of the Syrian civil war and a subsequent influx of migrants numbering over 4 million.
