In his first comments since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Syrian people would reshape their country’s future.
Fidan, who was in Qatar’s Doha for an event and talks with Russian and Iranian diplomats on Syria over the weekend, held a news conference in the city on Sunday.
He said regional actors and others should be calm and cautious and the region should not be driven into more instability. The top diplomat highlighted the need for a smooth transition in his country’s southern neighbor and said they were open to working with the people of Syria to ensure it. He added that the “new Syria” should not pose a threat to its neighbors.
On the possible whereabouts of Bashar Assad, Fidan said they were not aware of it but he was “probably outside Syria” at the moment.
Türkiye is among the countries most influenced by Syria’s civil war, especially in terms of a massive refugee influx and the emergence of the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group, the YPG, in northeastern Syria, a lethal threat to the country. Ankara recently extended a hand to the Assad regime to normalize ties frozen after the civil war broke out in the wake of the beginning of the unrest in 2011. The stance of Türkiye, which has been highly critical of the Assad regime’s oppression of its own people, adhered to the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and establishment of a political dialogue between the regime and the opposition Türkiye backed in the fight against terrorist groups in the north.
“The new government should be inclusive of all sides and the anti-regime forces should unite,” Fidan told reporters in Doha. “The state institutions should be preserved and properly function. This is our view on the matter and based on this, we will do our best for the prevalence of peace and security in Syria,” he said. He said that all minorities in Syria should be treated equally in this era.
Fidan echoed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s earlier remarks about the causes of the fall of the regime in Syria and said the regime had wasted the “precious time it had since 2016,” referring to the Astana Process that turned the civil war in Syria into a somewhat frozen conflict. In a speech on Saturday, Erdoğan lamented that the Assad regime turned down Ankara’s offer for normalization and to resolve the Syria crisis. “(The regime) did not care about unresolved problems. This actually explains how Aleppo fell without (a major clash) and how other cities followed it,” he said.
The minister underlined that the territorial integrity and welfare of Syria should be safeguarded in this new process. Türkiye in the past has repeatedly warned against the PKK/YPG carving out new areas for its so-called autonomous administration in northeastern Syria. “We have to be vigilant in this transition process. We are doing all we can so Daesh and the PKK will not take advantage of the situation,” Fidan said, without elaborating.
Fidan said it has been a busy week of diplomacy for Türkiye, which has been in touch with regional and international actors. He also noted that Saturday was an important day for the future of Syria, pointing out the Astana process countries’ meeting in Doha. “We attach importance to the constructive stance of Russia and Iran on this issue. The U.N. special envoy for Syria was also with us and made a great contribution (to the talks). We also met representatives of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt. We thank them for their constructive approach,” he said. Fidan noted that they also have been in contact with the United States.
“We have been working for a long time for Syria’s stability. We are very familiar with all involved actors and problems on the ground. The challenges abound and need tight work. We have to work with the people of Syria. All regional and international actors should be included in this process. We need a very good, problem-free transition process that will not harm the civilian population. They need access to basic services,” he said. Fidan added that regional countries should not view the new administration, the new Syria as a threat.
“Syria should address its problems,” he added.
The minister said Türkiye was aware that major developments would happen in Syria before the advance of anti-regime forces. “We knew very well the problems of Syrian people and the pressure on those groups. The regime was decaying, was on the brink of collapse. We tried to prevent it but we had not been in touch with the regime,” Fidan said.
He reiterated that President Erdoğan had repeatedly sought to reach out to Assad in the past few months but to no avail. Erdoğan was a close friend of Assad before the latter turned against his own people, utilizing everything from chemical weapons to torture against the opposition. Assad was initially warm to Erdoğan’s overture for normalization and at one point, even signaled he might have withdrawn his one condition for normalization: withdrawal of Turkish troops in Syria. Yet, the process apparently came to an impasse in recent months.
On rebuilding Syria in the post-Assad era, Fidan said it was important that they should work with the current administration and neighboring countries. “We will utilize our capacity and resources to address economic and other problems of Syria,” he added.
Fidan said anti-regime forces included diverse groups but they had a good coordination mechanism “that will be better in the coming days.”
“Right now, they have a major job to do. We hope they will stand together and properly work together and establish a good transition process that will include all relevant parties,” he said.
The minister said Türkiye attached importance to the well-being of the people of Syria and in this context, millions of Syrians who had to leave their country during the conflict can now return home. Türkiye has always advocated the dignified, voluntary return of Syrian refugees who left for Türkiye, countering calls by far-right groups to expel them. In recent years, it started building housing projects in Syria’s safer areas in the north to encourage returns.
Terrorism concerns
At the news conference, Fidan also highlighted the risk from terrorist groups, including Daesh. “Our aim is they will not exploit this situation and have taken all precautions. Daesh and the PKK should not take advantage of it. We are in touch with our American friends, and they are well aware of how sensitive we are on this issue, especially when it comes to the PKK/YPG. They are aware that Türkiye would respond to any attack by those terrorist groups,” he said. Fidan added that they would be in contact with the incoming Trump administration on the issue.
On a question of whether the PKK/YPG should be included in a new process in Syria, Fidan said Syria’s north was also home to legitimate Kurdish parties to the conflict who were part of the anti-regime forces. “But any extension of the PKK is not a legitimate side. They cannot be a part of the (anti-regime forces) we may engage in talks with,” he said.
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