There is little progress in relations between Syria and Turkey: Russian FM Lavrov

“There is little progress in ties between Syria and Turkey.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/10/10 16:53

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a joint press conference with the Arab League Secretary-General following their talks in Moscow, Oct. 9, 2023. (Photo: Sergei Ilnitsky/ AFP)

Syria Sergey Lavrov Turkey Russia Ahmed Aboul Gheit

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday told reporters at a joint news conference with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit that there is little progress in normalizing relations between Syria and Turkey.

“Normalization processes between Saudi Arabia and Iran are being established,” he said. However, he said that “there is little progress in ties between Syria and Turkey. If all this is implemented in full, it will help stabilize the situation in the region.”

Since 2022, Russia has attempted to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria, whose relations worsened during the Syrian Civil War, with Turkey supporting the opposition against the Syrian government.

Russia had earlier also proposed to revive the 1998 Adana Agreement between Turkey and Syria, which allows the entry of Turkish forces into Syrian territory.

However, Syria has insisted to Turkey that it withdraw all its forces from Syria before holding talks.

Currently, the Turkish army is present in large territories in northwestern Syria.

Turkish-backed militants and the Turkish army took control of large territories in northern Aleppo during Operation Euphrates Shield (Aug. 2016 - March 2017).

Turkey later expanded its control over more territories during Operation Olive Branch (Jan. 2018 - March 2018) and Operation Peace Spring (Oct. 2019), with the aim to undermine Kurdish autonomy in Syria

The Syrian government has asked Turkey to remove its forces from Syrian territory, but Turkish defense and government officials have underlined that it is not possible to withdraw due to the threat of terrorism from within Syria.

On July 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists that he was willing to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but is unwilling to negotiate a withdrawal from Syria.

As a result, Russia has been unable to arrange a meeting between the two sides.