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.



Arab Parliament Condemns Israeli Security Minister's Storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

This picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on December 20, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on December 20, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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Arab Parliament Condemns Israeli Security Minister's Storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

This picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on December 20, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture shows a view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on December 20, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

The Arab Parliament has condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, describing it as provocative towards the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world.
In a statement on Thursday, the Arab Parliament said that the Israeli minister's action represents yet another breach in the continuing series of violations committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
It rejected any attempts to undermine the historical and legal status of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem as null and void, emphasizing that these attempts constitute a blatant violation of international law and pertinent UN resolutions, further exacerbating escalation, tension, and instability in the region.
The Arab Parliament urged the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to the ongoing violations and attacks perpetrated by Israel against the sacred sites in Jerusalem.