Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, held a meeting with the former US Ambassador to Ankara, John Bass, during which the parties discussed the potential Turkish normalization process with the Syrian regime, along with other issues.
The meeting, which preceded the upcoming US elections scheduled for next November, also followed an acceleration in the Turkish rapprochement path with the regime and the conduct of joint Turkish-Russian patrols in northeastern Syria.
According to diplomatic sources quoted by the BBC Türkçe network today, Thursday, September 19, Fidan exchanged views with the US ambassador on a solution that takes into account Turkish security concerns in Syria.
Turkish diplomatic sources mentioned to the network that the discussions also highlighted the “negative ramifications” of the events in Gaza on Syria, stressing the need to maintain coordination among the actors who can play a role in resolving the conflict in Gaza.
Turkey expects the United States to end its support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Washington has seen since 2015 as a local partner providing support in the fight against the Islamic State, while Turkey classifies these units as a “terrorist organization.”
Given the statements of US officials regarding Turkish normalization with the Syrian regime, Ankara concludes that the United States does not view such a process positively, but Washington will not react harshly to such a step while indicating that pressure on the Syrian regime must continue to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254, according to what was reported by BBC Türkçe.
Opposition meetings
The Syrian Negotiation Commission, a body opposed to the regime, is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with high-ranking Turkish officials in the Turkish capital, Ankara, during this September.
According to the Commission’s meeting plan seen by Enab Baladi, meetings with US officials are also planned in the United States, as a delegation from the Commission’s presidency will visit the United States for several days. It will also hold meetings with representatives of some countries at the United Nations during the visit to New York, coinciding with the UN General Assembly meetings.
These moves come after reactivating the Turkish rapprochement path with the Syrian regime, reaching the point of talking about a possible meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Syrian regime president Bashar al-Assad, without specifying the time or location for such a meeting.
At the same time, the Syrian regime maintains its stance on the path led by Moscow, as Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad considered the Russian and Iranian presence in Syria legitimate while describing the Turkish and American presence as “occupation.”
Mekdad stated on September 14 that the various tasks undertaken by the “Syrian government” would eventually lead to the liberation of “every grain of sand occupied by Turkey and every grain of sand occupied by the United States or separatist forces that have placed themselves in the service of Western orientations.”
In response to a question about the Iranian and Russian presence in Syria and its impact on Syrian sovereignty, Mekdad said this applied to the “Turkish occupation of our land.”