Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says efforts to mend ties with Turkey had so far brought no tangible results.
“The initiatives did not yield any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators,” al-Assad said on Sunday in a speech to the Syrian parliament, referring to recent conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.
Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which Ankara supported rebels seeking to oust al-Assad.
The Syrian president and his regime have been accused by international bodies and human rights organisations of committing war crimes after millions of Syrian civilians have fled areas under the control of the government as well as the country as a whole.
“The solution is openness,” al-Assad said. “Restoring a relationship requires first removing the causes that led to its destruction.”
The Syrian president also made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a condition for talks.
“It’s not correct what was announced by some Turkish officials recently, that Syria said if there is no withdrawal, it will not meet with the Turks,” al-Assad said.
“This talk is far from reality,” al-Assad added.
In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a fervent supporter of the anti-Assad Syrian opposition, said he would extend an invitation to al-Assad “any time” for possible talks to restore relations.
Al-Assad said later that month that he was open to meeting Erdogan but it depended on the encounter’s “content”, noting Turkey’s presence in Syria was a key sticking point.
Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders in an effort to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together.
A Turkish newspaper earlier reported Erdogan and al-Assad could meet in August, but a Turkish diplomat denied the report.
Since the civil war began, Turkey has been a lifeline for the Syrian opposition, providing a base for military and political figures.
The country has also been involved militarily in areas along its border with northern Syrian because Ankara considers the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliates, who are present in this region, its primary security threat, which has to be dealt with.
The PKK has conducted a war against the Turkish state since 1984 and is considered a “terrorist” organisation in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Not abandoning Syrian opposition
In July, Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told Al Jazeera that the Turkish government had a foreign policy of “normalisation”, part of Erdogan’s “vision of peace”.
“The region is now in a climate seeking peace and stability,” Fidan said. “The spirit of our time forces us to seek peace and stability.”
However, he emphasised that the policy did not mean the Syrian opposition would be abandoned.
“We are not changing our position regarding the Syrian opposition. The Syrian opposition’s relations with the regime are based on their own free decision, their own free choice,” Fidan said before pointing out that opposition fighters had fought alongside Turkish troops to protect Turkey’s security.
“It is not possible for us to forget this sacrifice. … It is out of the question for us to forget these sacrifices and let them down,” Fidan added.
But within Turkey, the continued rise of anti-Syrian sentiment remains, putting the Turkish government in a difficult position.
Turkey is home to 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees – the most in the world.
While Erdogan has continued to back the principle of giving Syrians refuge, their future regularly comes up in Turkish political debates with some opponents of Erdogan promising to send them back to Syria.
