It seems that the return of relations between Syria and Turkey to normal will not be an easy or quick task, especially with the Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad repeating yesterday, Saturday, his country’s position rejecting any normalization with Ankara without the latter’s withdrawal of its military forces from the Syrian lands, so can the Turkish side implement this condition that I repeated Damascus more than once?
The editor-in-chief of the Turkish news site “Sendika” considered that “it is impossible for Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syrian territory at the present time,” considering that this matter is not only related to what he described as the “expansionist” dreams of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Also with Turkish foreign policy, as he put it.
repeated scenario
Ali Ergin Demirhan, editor-in-chief of the Turkish website, told Al-Arabiya.net, “We have examples from the past about the Turkish intelligence and the Turkish army creating a new reality in the lands they occupy, as happened in Cyprus as well as in northern Iraq, specifically in the Kurdistan region, which was repeated later. In Syria, where Ankara has supported what it calls the moderate opposition that receives salaries from the Turkish side and that lives under the protection of the Turkish armed forces inside Syrian territory.
He added, “When the Turkish armed forces withdraw from Syria, the jihadists will oppose them and, as former allies, will become new enemies, especially since they are present on both Turkish and Syrian lands, and the last November 13 attack that targeted Istiklal Street in Istanbul was a sign of what Turkey could face if What did you withdraw from Syria?
Turkish army reinforcements on the border between Turkey and Syria
The Turkish analyst pointed out that “although the Turkish government has accused the PKK and the People’s Protection Units of being behind the Istiklal Street attack, everyone knows that the network that carried out the attack was a jihadist from Syria, which means that the militants wanted to send a message to the Turkish government about the security consequences.” which it could face in the event of the withdrawal of the Turkish army from Syrian territory.
The withdrawal dilemma
According to the editor-in-chief of the Turkish news site, there are thousands of foreign jihadists on Syrian territory, such as the “Uyghurs” who are in the countryside of the Syrian province of Idlib, and they have no place to go when the Turkish withdrawal from the Syrian territories, which means that Turkey will be facing a huge influx, not only of refugees. to its lands, but also to the jihadists upon its withdrawal from Syria.
He also said, “The issue of jihadists is a big problem for both Syria and Turkey, and it is the result of the Turkish intervention in Syria,” adding that “the continuation of the Turkish occupation will complicate this problem and make it more difficult to solve,” stressing that the Turkish president has a desire to solve this problem in a way “permanent”.
Erdogan’s pragmatism
He added, “The economic crisis, the challenges of the war, and the pressures of the Russian ally forced Damascus to negotiate with Ankara, but as for the Turkish president, he is pragmatic and will try to reproduce the war in Syria again after the current negotiations, especially since he derives his strength from crises, not solutions, because he can provide solutions.” Promises without implementing them, as he did in Astana and Sochi during the talks related to the Syrian crisis.
He also pointed out that “the Turkish opposition, especially the Republican People’s Party, has to play a positive role in the issue of restoring relations between Syria and Turkey, as it announced that it was with peace, but supported military intervention and the occupation policy in Syria, and therefore it must be more clear and make contacts with its international counterparts.” However, he fears Erdogan’s criticism and is afraid of being accused of collusion, but despite this, if he wants to win the upcoming elections, he must show his seriousness in that.
No meeting soon with the lion
The Turkish analyst ruled out the possibility of any meeting soon between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Turkish counterpart, despite the continuous efforts between the two sides to restore relations between Damascus and Ankara after a rupture that lasted more than ten years due to Turkey’s support for the Syrian armed opposition groups and the policy against Assad’s rule.
Yesterday, Saturday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad said that Turkey would have to end its military presence in his country to achieve a full rapprochement.
Al-Miqdad said after his meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Damascus: “It is not possible to talk about restoring normal relations with Turkey without removing the occupation.”
Al-Miqdad added that any meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Turkish leadership depends on “removing the causes of conflict.”
Faisal Al-Miqdad
Yesterday, the Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, also revealed the possibility of a new meeting between the defense ministers of Turkey and Syria, ahead of the expected meeting in mid-February between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
He added, “We want security on our borders,” referring to the presence of Kurdish forces on Syrian territory.
Kalin also said, “We never target (the interests of) the Syrian state or Syrian civilians.”