Türkiye reiterated its commitment to a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Syria, backing dialogue and negotiations between the Damascus regime and opposition.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks in Ankara on Thursday with leaders of the Syrian opposition.
The officials discussed the current developments in Syria and efforts to restore relations between Ankara and Damascus to the way they were before the eruption of the crisis in 2011.
In a post on the X platform, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Fidan met with head of the National Coalition for the Forces of the Revolution and Syrian Opposition Hadi al-Bahra, head of the negotiations committee Nader Jamous and Prime Minister of the interim government Abdulrahman Mustafa.
Fidan stressed to his guests Türkiye’s support for realistic and purposeful dialogue and negotiations that would pave the way for a comprehensive political solution based on United Nations Security Council resolution 2254.
The FM said last week that “reconciliation with the opposition is the Syrian government’s problem and duty.”
Türkiye encourages meetings between the government and opposition, but it cannot force the opposition to do so, he added.
“We want the government to sit with the opposition, assess the problems and kick off negotiations to reach a solution,” he remarked.
He stressed that it is “impossible” to ignore the opposition.
Russia, meanwhile, is intensifying its efforts for Türkiye and Syria to normalize relations.
Fidan met with the opposition days after Russian presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev visited Ankara for talks on the Syrian crisis.
He met with deputy Turkish Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz on Saturday as part of consultations over Syria.
Lavrentiev had visited Damascus on June 26 for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Talks covered restoring ties with Ankara back to the way they were before the crisis erupted.
Assad was receptive to the proposals to that end.
