Turkish Foreign Ministry: The Assad regime can’t make its decisions by its own

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday, February 4, 2024, that the Assad regime does not have its own decisions and is waiting for its partners to provide it with vital support, in reference to the Russian and Iranian role, considering this to be one of the obstacles standing in the way of completing the Syrian talks.

Fidan’s made it clear during a television interview on the Turkish “A Haber” channel that these partners do not always share the same strategic priorities that means Russia, Iran and Syria, as separate countries, have a great partnership and have a common interest in keeping the regime in Syria, but when looking at the general balances in the region, they also have very different preferences and priorities.

Fidan explained that these priorities do not always match, pointing out that Turkey realizes that and closely monitors and analyzes it for a long time, it also taking this into consideration when it takes its steps.

Fidan pointed out that a general consensus may be reached regarding Syria, combating terrorism, and liberating its territories from the Syrian Democratic Forces during the meetings.

Fidan pointed out that the Assad regime’s attempts to impose preconditions on Turkey as a diplomatic step is a wrong approach.

Fidan said: “If you are setting conditions even for talking, this means that you are not really interested in solutions, or that you do not understand the priorities and positions of the other party, and if you enter into a diplomatic commitment, the first duty is to develop a strategy to understand the priorities, positions and steps of the other party, and you must have this awareness so that you can develop your steps accordingly.”
Fidan considered that if the Assad regime had an intention to engage in dialogue, this intention could be reflected on the ground with tangible results, but so far, the Assad regime can’t currently negotiate, and when it negotiates, it can’t be itself.

Fidan continued: “We do not want terrorism to come to our lands from Syria, and we do not want more refugees due to internal unrest in Syria. We want the Syrian people to achieve stability and peace in their own way, and we support that. We want the Syrians in Turkey to return in safety and peace of mind, this is what we want and we do not have other agenda.”

At the conclusion of his speech, Fidan said: “Frankly, we do not affect them much, because when we sit in conference formats, not everyone says the same thing, on our side there is one actor, our vision is clear, our president draws a vision there, so when we go into the field, we know what we’re talking about and what we’re asking for, but there’s a lot of volatility on the other side.