On Friday (December 13), Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced the reopening of Turkey’s embassy in Damascus over the weekend. Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler also announced that Turkey is open to providing military training to the new Syrian administration if help is requested.
Turkey’s Damascus embassy has been shuttered since 2012 due to a breakdown in diplomatic relations in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests, in which Ankara began to openly advocate for the ouster of then-President Bashar Al Assad.
The reopening of Turkey’s Damascus embassy follows the fall of Assad’s regime last week. The Tahrir Al Sham rebel group that stormed Damascus is viewed by many as an ally of Turkey’s, and Ankara has been alleged to have green-lighted the surprise push that led to Assad’s toppling, although this claim has been disputed.
Turkey had previously attempted a diplomatic normalization with Assad over the summer,.but the push was unsuccessful due in part to.continued Turkish military presence in northern Syria.
Elimination of YPG remains a priority
In his statement over the weekend,.Defense Minister Güler reiterated that Turkey remains. committed to the elimination of the People Defense Units (YPG),.a Kurdish militia group that controls large swaths of northern Syria. The YPG, an ally of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State,.is classified by Ankara as a terrorist group due to its connection to the banned Kurdish Workers Party.(PKK).
In his statement, Güler said: “In the new period,.the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation in Syria will be eliminated sooner or later… Members of the organisation coming from outside Syria will leave Syria. Those who are Syrian will lay down their weapons.”
Downplaying the potential role of Kurdish militias in fighting resurgent Islamic State fighters, Güler said:
“Has anyone heard of any attacks by Islamic State.terrorists in Syria in the last three years? We don’t see or hear anything about the Islamic State at the moment.”
Written for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
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