Syrian opposition denies being forced to leave Turkey
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Syrian opposition denied a report by Iran's semiofficial Tasnim News Agency that claimed the Syrian opposition was asked to leave Turkey during a meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The Iranian government affiliated news agency claimed that during a meeting on August 24 between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Syrian opposition officials, Turkey asked the Syrian opposition to leave Turkey.
Salem al-Meslet, the President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (known in Arabic as Etilaf) denied the claims on his Twitter account.
“The media of the Assad regime and its allies continue to spread poisonous rumors aimed at isolating the Syrian people from their brothers and their supporters,” he said.
He underlined that Turkey has “clearly shown its support for the demands of the Syrian people according to (UN) resolution 2254."
Moreover, Abdullah Sarhan Kaddo, a member of political committee Etilaf told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) that the claims by the Iranian media were not true. “We are used to hearing such false rumours,” he told SOHR.
On August 24, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with Syrian Coalition president Salem al-Meslet, President of the Syrian Negotiations Commission Badr Jamous and Head of the Syrian Interim Government Abdurrahman Mustafa.
"We appreciate and support the opposition's contribution to the political process within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 2254," the Turkish FM Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter, after the meeting.
Earlier also Iran’s semi-official state media earlier also reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might meet Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit (SCO) on September 15-16 in Uzbekistan.
Last week, Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu denied such reports in an interview with Haber Global.
The news was spread after Turkish officials have recently changed their tone on relations with the Syrian government and expressed their willingness to reconcile with Damascus.
The new position led to protests in Turkish controlled areas in Syria.
On his return flight from his visit to Ukraine, President Erdogan told reporters on August 19 that Turkey does not seek the overthrow of Syrian president Assad. He also added that Turkey needs to “secure additional steps with Syria at higher levels.”
The comments are a stark difference from a speech Recep Tayyip Erdogan made in 2012 when he was still Prime Minister of Turkey. “We will pray near the grave of Salahaddin Ayyubi and pray in the Umayyad Mosque,” Erdogan said at the time.