Turkey and Syria Fell Out Over the Civil War. Now Erdogan Wants to Talk
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants a three-way meeting with Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, signaling a thaw with Damascus that could help end the war in Syria.
“We want take a step as the Syria-Turkey-Russia trio,” Erdogan said late Wednesday, according to Turkish media.
Intelligence officials as well as defense and foreign ministers from Turkey, Syria and Russia should hold talks to prepare the ground for a meeting between the three countries’ leaders, he added.
“I proposed this to Mr. Putin. He also viewed it positively. We will start a series of negotiations,” Erdogan told reporters on his way to Turkey from Turkmenistan.
His remarks came amid a push by Russia for better ties between neighboring Turkey and Syria. Erdogan previously vacationed with Assad but the two fell out in the early phase of the conflict over Turkey’s support for Syrian rebels.
Erdogan recently signaled resetting ties with Syria after Turkish elections next year.
Erdogan has long argued that a 1998 security agreement with Damascus gave Turkey the right to attack Kurdish forces in Syria if they posed a threat. Russian and Iranian officials have suggested that reviving the so-called Adana Agreement could pave the way for Erdogan to resume cooperation with Damascus.
Bloomberg
