Turkish and U.S. delegations are set to hold a meeting on Syria in Washington on Tuesday, Turkish diplomatic sources said Monday.
The meeting, which will be held in an inter-institutional format and co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, is expected to focus on the two countries' Syria policies and discuss opportunities for cooperation in establishing security and stability in Syria, the sources added.
The fight against Daesh and other terrorist organizations is expected to be at the top of the agenda at the meeting, which will also discuss Ankara's support for the Syrian government and Türkiye-led regional efforts to combat the terrorist group.
Daesh took over vast swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, but it lost its grip on the territory after campaigns by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and Iraq and Syrian forces backed by Iran, Russia and various paramilitaries.
A U.S.-led coalition force still raids Daesh cells in Syria. In addition, the U.S., under the pretext of this “fight” against Daesh, supplies military equipment and training to the YPG, a wing of the PKK terrorist group holed up in northeastern Syria, despite protests by Türkiye, which targets both terrorist groups.
The U.S. is withdrawing about 600 troops from Syria, leaving fewer than 1,000 to work with the PKK/YPG, an official said last month.
The PKK terrorist organization has killed thousands in Türkiye since the 1980s and carved out a self-styled autonomous entity for itself in Syria's northeast as the civil war raged in Türkiye's southern neighbor.
The PKK last week announced it would disarm and disband itself as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative. The YPG is now expected to integrate into the new Syrian army under a centralization push of the new administration in Damascus.
The Turkish-U.S. working group will also discuss cooperation opportunities in northeastern Syria's camps, and the U.S. side is expected to provide information on the ongoing consolidation of U.S. military units in Syria.
Tens of thousands of people remain trapped in life-threatening conditions in several camps in northeast Syria.
Al-Hol, the largest internment camp in the region, hosts more than 43,000 detainees from 47 countries, many of them family members of Daesh members.
Following the toppling of Bashar Assad’s regime in December last year, Türkiye has voiced that it is ready to support Syria in managing the Daesh detention camps and prisons.
The working group meeting follows last week's direct engagement between the U.S. and Syria at the leadership level, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that sanctions against Syria would be lifted.
In this context, the meeting is also expected to address the process and timeline to be followed regarding lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria, the sources said.
Last week, during his Gulf tour, Trump met with Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Riyadh, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan joined via teleconference. He then announced lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria, implying Erdoğan convinced him of the landmark decision.
During the meeting, Yılmaz is expected to highlight Ankara's emphasis on multidimensional coordination with Washington in political, economic and security matters to ensure security and stability in Syria while preserving the country's territorial integrity and unity.
Yılmaz is also expected to share Türkiye's expectation that the historical process Syria is currently undergoing will ultimately result in the elimination of all terrorist elements from the country.
