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Experts: Many Obstacles Stand in the Way of Turkish-Syrian Reconciliation
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The Turkish military presence in northern Syria remains a major obstacle to any potential reconciliation, especially with Damascus insisting on Turkish withdrawal as a precondition
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's request for mediation from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to help communicate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has brought the issue of normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus back into focus.
During his return from Kazan after participating in the BRICS summit, the Turkish President revealed that he had appealed to the Russian side to intervene in ensuring the Syrian regime's response to efforts to revive relations between the two countries. He pointed to everyone's awareness of Moscow's influence over Damascus, which is why he sought the Russian President's help to ensure Assad's response to his invitation.
Erdogan refrained from setting a timeframe for the anticipated communication with the Syrian regime's president and did not clarify his Russian counterpart's position on the request for assistance. Turkish media quoted him saying: "Let's leave time to answer whether Mr. Putin will ask Assad to take this step."
Russian political analyst Lana Padvan explained that Erdogan's pursuit of Russian mediation falls within Ankara's attempts to restore its regional influence after its decline in Syria, noting Turkey's recognition of the need to resolve its disputes with Assad's regime to limit Iranian influence.
In her interview with Al-Arabiya.net, she added that Syrian-Turkish normalization could have strategic dimensions related to the Israeli war in the region, indicating that Ankara aspires to restore its role as a regional power parallel to Israel, though the obstacles between the two countries remain deep and complex.
Turkish academic Hussein Bagci agreed with this analysis, confirming to Al-Arabiya.net the difficulty of predicting the results of Russian mediation, emphasizing the importance of following the course of negotiations between the two sides.
He explained that Russia and Turkey can coordinate to combat terrorism in Syria, adding that discussing the file of Syrian refugees' return and ensuring their security with Assad's regime is a priority for Erdogan.
It's worth noting that relations between the neighboring countries collapsed after close ties, more than ten years ago, due to Ankara's support for the Syrian opposition following the March 2011 protests, before Turkish forces later intervened and occupied various areas in northern Syria.
Levant-Al Arabiya
