The leader of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), Özgür Özal, stated that he is attempting to arrange a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced earlier this week that there are no reasons preventing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria.
In an interview with Turkish journalist Fatiha Tayli on his YouTube channel, the opposition leader said, "We are engaged in what is called unofficial diplomacy with Syria. I am considering going to meet with Assad in the coming days if we can arrange that. This is not about a long-awaited meeting, but rather the possibility of holding such a meeting this summer."
Commenting on this, a researcher in Turkish affairs noted that "the striking aspect of these statements, especially those of the Turkish president, comes after the request from Erdoğan's coalition partner, Devlet Bahçeli, for the need to negotiate and reconcile with Assad. The goal, of course, is to combat the self-administration and the efforts made by the CHP regarding visiting Syria and meeting Assad."
Sarkis Qsarjian, a specialist in Turkish affairs, said to "Al Arabiya.net" that "the desire of the Turkish opposition leader to visit Syria raises concerns for Erdoğan, especially since the opposition won the recent local elections in March."
He added, "The opposition leader's request for a meeting with Assad is old and has been made before; in recent years, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, when he was leading the CHP, had requested to visit Assad but did not receive a response."
Qsarjian further stated that "these recent remarks signify a new beginning for the internal scene in Turkey, especially with the increasing pressure that the Syrian refugees' issue brings to Erdoğan and his government team, particularly amid the suffocating economic crisis."
While Özal announced attempts to meet Assad during the televised interview, he did not clarify the timeframe for preparing for such a meeting. He mentioned later that "communications are ongoing through unofficial diplomacy to understand whether it is possible to open the closed door" in relations between the two countries.
According to the opposition leader, these communications "are proceeding well," and if successful, he is likely to meet with Assad this month or the next, expressing his readiness to discuss the Syrian situation and settlement options with President Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Özal indicated that one of the key issues he wishes to discuss with Assad is the problem of Syrian refugees and their return to their homeland from Turkey. He noted, "Positive signals are coming from Assad," and that the CHP wants to attempt to establish a dialogue.
These statements from the opposition leader followed a day after remarks from the Turkish president, who did not rule out the possibility of holding a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to help restore bilateral relations between the two countries.
Relations between Syria and Turkey became strained following the protests that erupted in Syria in mid-March 2011, after which Ankara later intervened militarily in the Syrian crisis. Damascus has set preconditions for restoring relations with Ankara, the most prominent of which is the withdrawal of Turkish troops, whom it describes as "occupiers," and non-interference in its internal affairs and fighting "terrorism." However, Ankara rejects the Syrian conditions, especially those related to withdrawing its forces, citing the presence of Kurdish forces on its southern border as a threat to its national security.
