Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad declared on Sunday that Syria would not normalise relations with Turkey, accusing Ankara of occupying parts of Syrian territory. In an interview with the Russian state-run RT network, Mekdad emphasised that any meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, would be contingent upon the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian soil.
Mekdad reiterated Syria’s steadfast support for Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, underscoring the country’s unwavering commitment to Moscow. “We renew our support for the Russian special military operation,” he stated firmly.
The Syrian President attended the Arab Summit held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 19 May, marking his first participation in such an event in 12 years. Syria also regained its seat in the Arab League after more than a decade of suspension.
However, Turkey, which controls approximately nine per cent of Syrian territory, has shown no haste to thaw its relations with the Syrian government. Ankara has also implicitly disregarded Damascus’ demands for withdrawal. The Turkish president, in an interview with CNN last week, expressed readiness to reconcile with Assad in order to collaborate on fighting Kurdish groups in northeast Syria. But Erdoğan rejected the idea of withdrawing Turkish forces from northern Syria, which Assad has laid down as a precondition for talks.
Turkey has conducted three incursions into Syria since 2016, maintaining control of significant portions of the country’s north and deploying its armed forces along the contact line in Idlib, where the Syrian government and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly known as al-Nusra Front, are engaged in a stand-off.
Erdoğan claims that Turkish forces remain in Syria to combat terrorism, specifically referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
