The head of the Syrian National Coalition for opposition forces, Hadi al-Bahra, stated that a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad is possible, even though Ankara fully realizes that al-Assad’s regime is currently unable to meet its demands.
Al-Bahra’s comments came in an interview with the Reuters news agency, published on Wednesday, September 25, focusing on the normalization path between Ankara and Damascus. He indicated that Erdoğan’s calls for talks with al-Assad are far-fetched but aim to send a message of reconciliation in a region increasingly distracted by war.
Al-Bahra added that Turkey is very keen on the normalization path, stating, “They clearly see what they need to achieve. But they well know the limitations of al-Assad’s regime.”
The head of the coalition emphasized that many Syrians currently in Turkey have fought against al-Assad’s rule, and they come from areas outside the northern Syrian region controlled by Turkey, which complicates matters, according to him.
He further mentioned that the Turks “are well aware that they can force 100,000 or 200,000 or 500,000 refugees to return to Syria, but they cannot force three million or three and a half million,” which is why Turkey sees that achieving this requires reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
Al-Bahra’s comments come hours after statements from the Syrian regime about the normalization path with Turkey, delivered by al-Assad’s advisor, Bouthaina Shaaban.
Shaaban said on Wednesday, “We did not say that the Turks should withdraw immediately, but they must acknowledge the principle of withdrawal, and when they refuse to acknowledge this principle, we will not sit at the same table with them,” as reported by the local Al-Watan newspaper.
Shaaban pointed out that Turkey used the issue of rapprochement with Syria in the media for its own benefit, adding, “What the Turkish media presents about restoring relations with Syria is media misinformation used by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to achieve internal gains or gains in the region or with NATO.”
Bouthaina Shaaban’s statements came in response to Turkish President Erdoğan’s calls on September 21 for the Syrian regime to normalize relations, saying that he “awaits a response from the other side.”
Erdoğan added, “We are ready for this. As two states with Muslim populations, we want to achieve this unity and solidarity as soon as possible,” expressing his hope for the start of a new era.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke on August 31 about preparing for a new meeting to normalize relations between Turkey and the Syrian regime, confirming that it will be held very soon.
According to the Russian minister, the Syrian government (referring to the regime) believes that continuing the normalization process requires determining the measures for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria, while the Turks are ready for this, but no specific criteria have been agreed upon yet.