Syria Resisting Russia’s Efforts to Broker Türkiye Summit, Sources Say 

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, 16 November 2022. (EPA)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, 16 November 2022. (EPA)
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Syria Resisting Russia’s Efforts to Broker Türkiye Summit, Sources Say 

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, 16 November 2022. (EPA)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, 16 November 2022. (EPA)

Syria is resisting Russian efforts to broker a summit with Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan, three sources said on Friday, after more than a decade of bitter enmity since the outbreak of Syria's war. 

Erdogan's government supports opposition fighters who tried to topple President Bashar al-Assad and has accused the Syrian leader of state terrorism, saying earlier in the conflict that peace efforts could not continue under his rule. 

Assad says it is Türkiye which has backed terrorism by supporting an array of fighters including extremist factions and launching repeated military incursions inside northern Syria. Ankara is readying another possible operation, after blaming Syrian Kurdish fighters for a bombing in Istanbul. 

Russia helped Assad turn the tide of the war in his favor and says it is seeking a political end to the conflict and wants to bring the two leaders together for talks. 

Erdogan has signaled readiness for rapprochement. 

"There can be no resentment in politics," he said in a televised discussion at the weekend. 

However, three sources with knowledge of Syria's position on possible talks said Assad had rejected a proposal to meet Erdogan with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. 

Two of the sources said Damascus believed such a meeting could boost Erdogan ahead of Turkish elections next year, especially if it addressed Ankara's goal of returning some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees from Türkiye. 

"Why hand Erdogan a victory for free? No rapprochement will happen before the elections," one of the two said, adding that Syria had also turned down the idea of a foreign ministers' meeting. 

The third source, a diplomat with knowledge of the proposal, said Syria "sees such a meeting as useless if it does not come with anything concrete, and what they have asked for so far is the full withdrawal of Turkish troops." 

Turkish officials said this week the army needed just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria, where it has already carried out artillery and air strikes. 

But the government has also said it is ready for talks with Damascus if they focus on security at the border, where Ankara wants Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters pushed from the frontier and refugees moved into "safe zones". 

An Assad-Erdogan meeting could be possible "in the not too distant future", a source with knowledge of Türkiye’s approach to the issue said. 

"Putin is slowly preparing the path for this," the source said. "It would be the beginning of a major change in Syria and would have very positive effects on Türkiye. Russia would benefit too...given it is stretched in many areas."  



Jordan, Syria to Form Joint Committee to Secure their Border

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
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Jordan, Syria to Form Joint Committee to Secure their Border

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend a press conference as they meet in Amman, Jordan January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al Sukhni

Jordan and Syria agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border and combat the smuggling of arms and drugs as well as cooperating to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Tuesday.

Safadi met in Amman on Tuesday with visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, who said during a joint press conference that the latest US move to ease sanctions should be a step towards full lifting of sanctions.

Shibani said existing sanctions were a main hurdle to the recovery of Syria.

The United States on Monday issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months after the end of president Bashar al-Assad's rule to try to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance.