Ankara 20 August : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged reconciliation between the opposition and the government in the neighboring Syria. “The opposition as well as the government in Syria must come to a compromise,” Erdogan said in remarks reported by the state news agency Anadolu on Friday.
More than 11 years of civil conflict, in which Turkey has supported rebels who want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster The regime’s forces control approximately two-thirds of Syria with the help of Russia and Iran according to the DPA news agency.
The aim of Turkey in Syria “is not to take down Assad” rather to come up with an alternative way to resolve the situation, Erdogan said, adding that states “can not rule out diplomatic or political dialogue”.
He was talking to reporters during a return flight back to Ukraine’s Lviv where he was greeted by President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Some observers suggest that the Turkish leader is weighing the possibility of a reprise of dialog with Assad.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu this week stated he briefly met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in October in Belgrade it was the first high-level meeting since 2011.
Turkey holds areas of territory in northern Syria as a result of military actions against Syrian Kurdish militia whom it considers terrorists.
Erdogan recently threatened to increase the offensive.
He suggested that “further actions with Syria” could aid in easing the burden of “4 million” refugees from Syria in Turkey.
Turkish opposition parties have pledged to bring Syrians back to their homelands should they win the elections next year in the face of a growing amount of discontent toward the Syrians who are in Turkey.
However, it’s not clear when and how relocation plans for refugees work.
Erdogan’s call came at 14 people including five children were killed and 38 others injured in the bombing of an open market in an area that is controlled by rebels backed by Turkey in northern Syria A war monitor said.
