Bashar Al Assad says no progress in push to mend Syria-Turkey ties

Syrian President says mediation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq have not achieved results despite recent hints at diplomatic thaw

President Bashar Al Assad told MPs in Damascus the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria was not a prerequisite to rapprochement between the neighbours. AFP

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has given a negative assessment of efforts to restore ties with Turkey, saying the process had yielded no real progress despite mediation by regional powers, as Damascus emerges from years of diplomatic isolation caused by its civil war.

Work by mediating partners including Russia, Iran and Iraq had “not achieved any results worth mentioning in reality”, Mr Al Assad told Syrian politicians at the opening of a new parliamentary term in the capital.

His remarks come despite signs of warming ties in recent months with the reopening of a border crossing and overtures from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“With every day that passes without progress, the damage has piled up, not only for the Syrian side, but also for the Turkish side, such that it is not possible any more to hide it or deny it,” Mr Al Assad said.

Ankara has sent troops into northern Syria, where it backs armed opposition forces and political groups, and has carried out a number of incursions against Kurdish militias in the region that it sees as a national security threat. Damascus views these opposition forces backed by Ankara as terrorists and has forcefully objected to the Turkish military presence inside its borders.

Without mentioning Mr Erdogan, Mr Al Assad on Sunday indirectly criticised Ankara's policies on Syria, saying a "step back" was needed from strategies that led to the current situation, alluding to Turkey's armed presence in Syria and its support for opposition forces.

"These are not conditions, they are requests in order for the process to succeed," he said. "The main solution is frankness, not sycophancy acting as frankness. The main solution is to define the source of the mistake, not to deny it."

Recent developments had hinted at warming relations. The Abu Al Zanadin border crossing between areas held by the Turkish-backed opposition and territories under the authority of Damascus was reopened this month, indicating greater commercial exchange between the two sides.

But to set any normalisation process in motion, Mr Al Assad said Turkey and Syria needed to outline terms of reference for the process based on issues both sides consider essential. The lack of such key points was among the main reasons for the failure of previous talks, he said.

These terms of reference could then form a joint statement, which would later become an “initial paper”, he added. This would “steer the steps that could be taken later in order to develop the relationship, or the [Turkish troop] withdrawal, or combatting terrorism”.

Turkish officials did not immediately respond to Mr Al Assad’s speech. In a recent paper for the Atlantic Council think tank, analysts Sinan Hatahet and Omer Ozkizilcik said Russia had been attempting to influence the Turkish public to portray normalisation with Mr Al Assad as the best path for their safety and security.

“Reconciliation with Turkey, the last-standing primary regional adversary, is crucial to completing Syria’s narrative of victory [in the civil war],” they wrote. “The prevailing sentiment in Damascus is that mending ties with Ankara would deliver a significant blow to the opposition.”

Pushed by Russia and Iran, and more recently by Iraq, Turkey-Syria normalisation efforts began several years ago but have appeared to gather pace this year. In July, Mr Erdogan said he would invite Mr Al Assad to Turkey to discuss renewing diplomatic ties, the boldest sign yet that he is willing to talk to the Syrian President on the matter.

"We have now come to such a point that if Bashar Al Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will show that approach towards him," Mr Erdogan said. "We will make our invitation."

But any invitation has yet to be announced publicly and Turkish observers privately believe the normalisation process will be long and slow.

There appear to be a number of reasons behind Mr Erdogan’s overtures to his Syrian counterpart. The Turkish President has been under increasing domestic pressure to send home more than three million Syrian refugees who have sought safety in Turkey. Ankara is also looking for partners in operations against Kurdish militants in Syria, who the US backs but Damascus views as separatists.

The renewed diplomatic efforts also come against a backdrop of Arab nations restoring ties with Damascus after a long period of estrangement. Last year Syria was formally welcomed back into the Arab League, as Middle Eastern nations hoped to find in Mr Al Assad a partner against the burgeoning regionwide drugs trade.

It is not clear whether those attempts have borne fruit.