Turkey continues its efforts to normalize relations with Syria following a rupture between Ankara and Damascus since 2012. However, how can relations return to what they were before Turkey began providing political and military support to the Syrian opposition trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after the popular protests that erupted in mid-March 2011? So far, Turkish efforts have been limited to discussions between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, but no date for these talks has been announced yet, which will be preceded by security arrangements that threaten to weaken the Turkish-backed armed opposition in northwestern and eastern Syria.
Western nations have realized they cannot oust Assad, leading them to change their course. When our president realized he was alone, he decided to befriend Assad again.
Informed Turkish sources told "Al Arabiya" and "Al Hadath" that "the armed opposition fears any Turkish-Syrian rapprochement that could end its military authority in the areas under its control where the Turkish army is also present." As a result, opposition leaders quickly met with Erdogan's ally in the Nationalist Movement Party, a far-right faction led by Devlet Bahçeli. According to the previous source, armed opposition leaders are seeking guarantees either to move to Turkey or another country following any formal Turkish-Syrian rapprochement, especially since some of them are subject to U.S. sanctions, such as Mohammad al-Jassem, known as Abu Amsha, who leads the so-called "Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade" and was recently seen with Bahçeli, documenting their meeting with a photo.
It is likely that the head of the "Nationalist Movement Party" will pressure his ally President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to "mitigate the damage" that will befall the Turkish-backed armed groups in northwestern and eastern Syria, according to the informed Turkish sources.
In this context, Turkish academic and political analyst Bangi Bashir emphasized that "the Turkish president and his Syrian counterpart were very close friends before the Syrian war, but Erdoğan sided with the West and called for the ousting of Assad's regime, even speaking poorly of him, describing him as a killer. However, the balance of power has changed today." Bashir told "Al Arabiya" and "Al Hadath" that "Western countries have realized that they cannot oust Assad, so they changed their course. When our president realized he was alone, he decided to befriend Assad again. However, since he is somewhat embarrassed, he cannot do so directly and seeks to return to the old days through intermediaries."
Russia, along with Iraq, is playing a mediating role in normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria, but Damascus demands Ankara withdraw its forces from northern Syrian territory as a prerequisite for negotiations on the return of relations between the two countries. The Russian ambassador to Syria, Alexander Efimov, denied today, in statements carried by a Syrian newspaper close to the government, the existence of direct communication channels between Damascus and Ankara. Western media reported days ago that Iraq informed the United States about efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria. Last week, the Syrian president reiterated his country's demand for Turkey to withdraw its forces from the Syrian regions where they are present and to stop supporting armed groups, considering that his Turkish counterpart had not announced his objective for meeting with him.
