Türkiye Has No Preconditions for Dialogue with Syria, Says FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, Türkiye, on August 8, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, Türkiye, on August 8, 2022. (AFP)
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Türkiye Has No Preconditions for Dialogue with Syria, Says FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, Türkiye, on August 8, 2022. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during the 13th Ambassadors Conference in Ankara, Türkiye, on August 8, 2022. (AFP)

Türkiye has no preconditions for dialogue with Syria but any talks should focus on security on their border, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, in a further softening of Ankara's stance towards Damascus after a decade of hostility.

Türkiye has backed opposition factions fighting to topple Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and cut diplomatic relations with Damascus early in the 11-year conflict.

But the two countries' intelligence chiefs have maintained contact and recent comments from President Tayyip Erdogan's government suggest a move towards political engagement, alarming Assad's opponents in the remaining pocket of opposition-held Syria.

Cavusoglu said two weeks ago that the Syrian opposition and government must be brought together for reconciliation, and Erdogan said diplomatic relations could never be fully cut.

After visiting Russia, which has strongly backed Assad, Erdogan said President Vladimir Putin had suggested that Türkiye cooperate with the Syrian government along their joint border, where Erdogan is planning a further military incursion against Syrian Kurdish fighters he says pose a security threat.

Türkiye, which has carried out four military operations in northern Syria since 2016, says it is creating a safe zone where some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is currently hosting could return.

‘No conditions for dialogue’

Asked about the prospect for any talks, Cavusoglu said they would need to have specific goals.

"There cannot be a condition for dialogue, but what is the aim of these contacts? The country needs to be cleared of terrorists... People need to be able to return," Cavusoglu told broadcaster Haber Global.

"No conditions for dialogue, but what is the aim, the target? It needs to be goal-oriented," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, called for talks involving Türkiye and Syria to avert a military operation.

"The main thing is not to allow any new military action, to negotiate through diplomatic channels on the basis of the political principles that previously existed in relations between Syria and Türkiye," Lavrov said.

Cavusoglu revealed earlier this month that he briefly spoke with Mekdad last year on the margins of an international gathering, though he played down the meeting.

Asked last week about potential talks with Damascus, Erdogan said that diplomacy can never be fully severed. There is a "need to take further steps with Syria," he said, according to a transcript of his comments to Turkish media.

Around 3,000 people demonstrated on Aug. 12 in the town of Azaz, which is controlled by Türkiye-backed opposition forces, pledging to continue their opposition to Assad.

Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AK Party, said a political solution could only be reached when Syria's government changes course and the opposition believes that a basis for reconciliation has emerged.

"Of course it is out of the question to talk about any political dialogue until the conditions that led to the severance of the political relationship (between Türkiye and Syria) are eliminated," Celik said.



Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
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Jumblatt Hands Over Progressive Socialist Party Arms to Lebanese Army

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)
Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt (Reuters)

Lebanon’s veteran Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Thursday called on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group to hand its weapons over to the state, saying arms must be exclusively under government control.

Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party said, “Weapons should only be in the hands of the Lebanese state,” adding that the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, a long-disputed area on the western slopes of Mount Hermon, are Syrian territory.

Jumblatt’s appeal comes amid growing international calls for Hezbollah to disarm and for the Lebanese government to implement its longstanding pledge—reiterated in its ministerial statement and by President Joseph Aoun during his swearing-in—to ensure that only state institutions bear arms.

His remarks also come as Washington renews its push to resolve files with Syria, including border demarcation, as part of wider regional realignments.

“There’s a new chapter unfolding in the Middle East,” Jumblatt said. “If any Lebanese or non-Lebanese party possesses weapons, I hope they will hand them over to the state in a proper manner.”

He described “the most valuable weapon for future generations” as being one of “memory”—urging the country to pass down stories of resistance against Israel and its collaborators rather than stockpiles of arms.

Jumblatt said he had recently informed the president of the presence of weapons in his hometown of Mukhtara and asked the relevant security agencies to take over the matter. The arms, collected gradually since the May 2008 clashes between Hezbollah and his party, were fully handed over more than three weeks ago.

The arsenal, he said, consisted of light and medium-grade weapons that had been centrally gathered over the years.

He noted that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri—himself a close ally of Hezbollah—remained a “friend and ally,” but added: “The issue of weapons has no bearing on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has long justified its arsenal as essential to liberating the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills, areas Israel did not vacate during its 2000 withdrawal from south Lebanon. In recent years, the dispute has expanded to include 13 border points and the northern section of the village of Ghajar, which Israel annexed in 2022.

“Shebaa Farms are covered under UN Resolution 242. It is Syrian land occupied by Israel,” Jumblatt said.

He urged support for the Lebanese army and internal security forces, stressing that Israel still occupies territory and that several Lebanese villages remain destroyed.

He also called for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“In this round, Israel and the West have won with US backing,” he said. “But nothing lasts forever.”