Turkish and Syrian officials meet in Baghdad for rapprochement

Turkish and Syrian officials are expected to meet in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, for a possible rapprochement between their respective countries and the restoration of diplomatic relations severed more than 12 years ago.

Syria al-Watan The daily, citing informed sources who requested anonymity, reported that the upcoming meeting will be the first step on the path of a long process of negotiations that will lead to political agreements.

The sources added that Ankara called on Moscow and Baghdad to prepare the ground for Turkish diplomats to sit at the negotiating table with the Syrian side without the presence of any third parties or members of the press.

Al-Watan noted that the initiative for Turkey-Syria rapprochement and restoration of their diplomatic relations has received broad support from Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Russia, China and Iran.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that there was no reason why his country should not renew ties with neighboring Syria.

“There is no reason not to establish (relations with Syria),” Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

He stressed that Ankara has neither the intention nor the objective to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs.

“Just as we once developed relations between Turkey and Syria, we will act together again in the same way,” he added.

Turkey severed ties with Syria in March 2012, a year after the Arab country found itself gripped by endemic and deadly violence led by foreign-backed militants, including those allegedly backed by Ankara.

The process of normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus began on December 28, 2022, when Russian, Syrian and Turkish defense ministers met in Moscow, in what was the highest-level meeting between the two parties since the start of the Syrian conflict.

Since 2016, Turkey has carried out three major ground operations against US-backed militants based in northern Syria.

The Turkish government accuses US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) activists of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group.

Syria considers the Turkish presence on its soil illegal, saying it reserves the right to defend its sovereignty against occupying forces.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has linked rapprochement with Turkey to the end of Ankara’s occupation of northern parts of the Arab country and its support for militant groups wreaking havoc and fighting against the government in Damascus.