Erdoğan-Assad talks may be in Baghdad, says Iraqi FM

BAGHDAD

An expected meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, to restore diplomatic relations is likely to take place in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on July 13.

"The relations between Türkiye and Syria are complicated but there are still contacts between the two countries through Iraq. There is an Iraqi initiative to bring the two sides together in Baghdad," Hussein told reporters in Washington during a NATO summit.

Hussein said the proposal followed signals from both Ankara and Damascus indicating openness to rapprochement.

Türkiye and Syria have been at odds since the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 plunged the latter into a protracted and devastating conflict. The war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, involved numerous foreign powers and fragmented the country.

Assad has recently shown a willingness to mend ties with Türkiye. In response, Erdoğan said he might invite Assad to Türkiye "at any moment."

Hussein's remarks confirmed an earlier report by the Syrian daily Al-Watan that the first round of talks to normalize relations would be held in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Syrian diplomats said any normalization of ties would depend on Ankara withdrawing troops from its territory, according to state news agency SANA.

Türkiye has control over a large territory in northern Syria as a result of operations between 2016 and 2020.

Normalization is contingent on returning to "pre-2011 conditions and that it is in the common interest of both nations," said a statement from Syria's Foreign Ministry.

"The Syrian Arab Republic expresses its thanks and appreciation to the friendly and brotherly countries that are making sincere efforts to improve Syrian-Turkish relations," it added.

The Russian-mediated direct talks between Turkish and Syrian officials in 2022 ended without success, as Damascus insisted on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory.

Meanwhile, Syria has accepted a request from Türkiye's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel to visit Damascus and meet with Assad, according to a party official. Özel has previously suggested he could mediate between Erdoğan and Assad.