Through the conflict in Syria, Turkey has supported rebel forces, including those with links to al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. Turkey has also launched repeated incursions into Syrian territory, most notably against Kurds in Afrin in 2018, and continues to occupy large swathes of the country’s north.
“We proceed from the fact that normalization between Ankara and Damascus is extremely important for advancing a comprehensive Syrian settlement and strengthening regional security,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Rudaw in a press briefing.
Russia, the main backer of the Syrian regime, is foremost among the countries seeking a normalization of Syria-Turkey ties.
Labeling attempts to isolate Syria from regional and international relations as “wrong,” Zakharova said that it was “obvious” that Syria would eventually return to cooperate with neighboring countries and re-establish diplomatic relations “with many who had refused it ten years ago.”
“The whole ‘story’ around Damascus is man-made,” she said. “The conflict was largely fueled by the ‘collective West’. It was clear that Russia would not let Syria fall under the onslaught of the West.”
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he might invite his counterpart and long-time foe Bashar al-Assad to Turkey, a month after Assad told a top Russian delegation of his “openness to all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Turkey, which are based on the sovereignty of the Syrian state over its entire territory,” according to a statement from his office released at the time.
Assad, who is also heavily backed by Iran and its proxies, has previously preconditioned any potential rapprochement on the full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria.
When the war erupted in Syria, Erdogan, then prime minister of Turkey, slammed Assad for committing violence against his own people. Erdogan demanded the removal of the Syrian president from power and labeled him a “terrorist.”
Syrians rose against the Assad regime in March 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, left millions more in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and left much of the country’s infrastructure in ruins.
More than 13 million Syrians, half the country’s pre-war population, have been displaced since the start of the civil war, more than 6 million of whom are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to United Nations figures. Millions of Syrians are living in Turkey.
