Assad blames Erdogan for violence in Syria, insists on withdrawal of Turkish army

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lashed out at Turkey, blaming Ankara for the upsurge in violence in his war-ravaged country and reiterating his demand for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria. Assad gave an interview to Sky News Arabia, which was his first interview with a foreign media outlet in months. He said that terrorism in Syria was being made in Turkey. Bashar al-Assad also declared that a rapprochement with Turkey and a meeting with Turkish President Erdogan would be impossible under the current conditions.

Despite meetings between the Turkish and Syrian defense and foreign ministers, mediated by Russia and Iran, to restore strained relations, the Syrian president denied rumors of an imminent meeting between him and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Assad insists that Turkey must provide a timetable for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria in order for relations to be normalized. In May, ministers agreed to draw up a “roadmap” to improve relations. In the interview, Assad said: “Erdogan’s objective in meeting me is to legitimize the Turkish occupation in Syria. Why should I and Erdogan meet? To have soft drinks?” The Syrian president continued by explicitly accusing Turkey of feeding terrorism in Syria: “Terrorism in Syria is a Turkish industry. Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are different names for a product that originated in Turkey and has been financed by Turkey until now. So what kind of terrorism is he talking about?”

Earlier this year Erdogan said he might meet Assad as part of a new peace process, but Assad said in March that there was no point in meeting Erdogan until Turkey’s ‘illegal occupation’ ended. In July this year, Erdogan reaffirmed that he was open to talks with Bashar al-Assad, but that the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syrian territory as a precondition for talks was ‘unacceptable’. While the Turkish army has occupied parts of Syria, it has also stepped up its air strikes in Syria. Following the Turkish elections in May, the Turkish military has escalated its attacks in north-eastern Syria in recent months, causing civilian casualties. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, there were more than 665 Turkish air and drone strikes in northern Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2023.