Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed anti-regime groups’ offensive in Syria and the Palestine-Israel conflict at a meeting in the capital, Ankara, on Monday with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. Fidan said at a joint news conference that Ankara has repeatedly warned all parties of the conflict to avoid escalation of tensions. He noted that problems have not been resolved for the past 13 years since the start of the unrest in Syria, which has led to the current situation. He added that it would be false to explain away the developments due to foreign intervention. He underlined that Türkiye always supported the territorial integrity of Syria.
He added that Türkiye and Iran saw eye-to-eye in cooperation against terrorism and said Ankara would not allow terrorist groups to exploit instability in Syria. Fidan stated that they had measures in place against possible problems that may affect Türkiye.
Araghchi was in Damascus on Sunday, where he met Bashar Assad and conveyed Tehran’s firm support to the regime embattled with the lightning offensive of the anti-regime forces, which largely captured Aleppo.
Both countries have major interests in terms of Syria’s stability. Although it firmly opposed the Assad regime’s violent suppression of the opposition protests more than a decade ago and severed ties, Türkiye supports the territorial integrity of the country, something Fidan repeated on Monday. Türkiye faced a massive flow of refugees from its southern neighbor as the conflict escalated in 2011 and found itself as the target of a budding terrorist group: the YPG or the Syrian wing of the PKK, which claimed thousands of lives in Türkiye in terrorist attacks since the 1980s. The YPG controls parts of northeastern Syria. Iran steadfastly supported the Assad regime, particularly militarily, since the unrest began, though Israel’s escalating aggression in the region reached as far as areas in Syria where pro-Iranian elements are located.
Fidan said at the news conference that Türkiye and Iran would continue cooperation against terrorism, saying they agreed upon counterterrorism measures against the PKK and its “extensions.” The PKK also had a wing in Iran under the name of PJAK.
Further on Syria, Fidan said the Astana process halted the conflict in Syria, but problems that led to the conflict in the first place have not been resolved. The Astana Process, sponsored by Türkiye, Russia and Iran, involved talks between the opposition and the Assad regime. Its last meeting was held in November in the eponymous Kazakh capital. The process had been a road map for sides for commitment to Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a political settlement to the conflict in the country.
The Turkish minister said that the regime failed to be involved in the political process. “The latest developments highlight the necessity of compromise between Damascus and its own people, legitimate opposition,” he stated. Fidan said attacks on civilians triggered conflict, but Türkiye would continue supporting Syria’s territorial integrity. He added that they would revive the Astana process soon and never wanted the civil war to escalate again. “We don’t want to see cities falling into ruin; we don’t want to see people displaced. Stopping refugee flow and having people returning their homes is essential,” he stated.
For his part, Araghchi said, “terrorist groups in Syria had connections to the United States and Israel,” and this “caused mistrust” in Syria. The Iranian minister said it would be a mistake to disregard the fact that the Zionist regime of Israel had no role in new tensions. Araghchi said he agreed with Fidan on safeguarding gains of the Astana process. “Insecurity in Syria will be a blow to the people of Syria, Syria’s economy. Syria should not be a hotbed of terrorist groups,” he said. The minister added that, as neighboring countries, they had to pursue efficient and fast initiatives to prevent insecurity and instability in Syria. “As we did in the past, we will offer our firm support to the people of Syria, the army and the government,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry has been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts since last week to defuse the situation. Fidan, who had phone calls with top diplomats of regional actors, also held a phone call with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. Blinken and Fidan discussed “the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilian lives and infrastructure in Aleppo and elsewhere,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
According to a Turkish Foreign Ministry source, Fidan told Blinken Ankara was “against any development that would increase instability in the region” and said Türkiye would “support moves to reduce the tension in Syria.” He also said “the political process between the regime and the opposition should be finalized” to ensure peace in Syria while insisting that Ankara would “never allow terrorist activities against Türkiye, nor Syrian civilians.”
