Turkish FM hosts senior Syrian opposition leaders

Emine Kart - ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has held separate meetings on the same day with two senior Syrian opposition leaders to discuss the U.N.-led peace process.

Çavuşoğlu separately hosted Syria National Council (SNC) President Anas al-Abdah and the chief coordinator of the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Riad Hijab, on June 8, Turkish diplomatic sources told Hürriyet Daily News.

In the meeting with Istanbul-based Abdah, views were exchanged on the conditions of Syrians in Turkey, as well as the latest news from Syria and the negotiation process, diplomatic sources said, speaking under customary condition of anonymity.

“Abdah thanked Minister Çavuşoğlu for supporting the Syrians in Turkey and remarked that they are thankful to Turkey,” they said.

Çavuşoğlu also hosted Hijab in his office later in the day. 

“In the meeting, views were exchanged over the subjects of the negotiation process and the latest update in Syria,” the same sources said.

The meetings in Ankara came a day after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed on June 7 his troops would “liberate” every inch of Syria, just as they recaptured the ancient town of Palmyra from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in a speech that reflected his renewed confidence as the military pressed on toward Raqqa, the extremists’ self-styled capital.

His remarks in parliament came as his opponents, backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, were struggling for survival and his troops almost encircled rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.