Russia hosts high-level Türkiye-Syria meetingAnkara and Damascus held talks involving defense chiefs, reportedly for the first time in over a decade
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu met with his Turkish and Syrian counterparts in Moscow on Wednesday. Türkiye’s defense minister held negotiations with Syria’s defense head, reportedly for the first time since 2011.
Hulusi Akar and Ali Mahmud Abbas, representing Ankara and Damascus, respectively, discussed “ways to resolve the Syrian crisis” and “joint efforts to combat extremist groups in Syria,” as well as possible solutions to the refugee problem, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement after the meeting.
Both sides said the format was “constructive” and stressed they were interested in continuing the discussions for the sake of stabilizing Syria and the region as a whole, Moscow said.
The agenda was confirmed in a statement issued by the defense ministry in Ankara. Turkish media also noted that this was the first meeting at this level between the neighboring countries since the Syrian conflict began 11 years ago.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan severed diplomatic relations with Syria in March 2012. In October of last year, the foreign ministers of the two countries met at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Serbia, where it was revealed that their respective intelligence agencies had resumed communications.
The Moscow meeting comes just days after Akar revealed he had been negotiating with Moscow over the use of Syrian airspace for Türkiye’s ‘Operation Claw-Sword,’ a campaign of air and artillery strikes on the Kurdish militias in northern Syria.
Ankara considers the US-backed Kurdish militants to be terrorists allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it blamed for the mid-November suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed six people and wounded 81 more.
A much bigger bone of contention between the neighboring countries is Türkiye’s backing for Syrian rebels that have sought to overthrow the government in Damascus. The remnants of the rebellion, largely defeated by the Syrian Army with Russia’s support, have fallen back to the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest.
ロシアのセルゲイ・ショイグ国防相は2日、モスクワでトルコ、シリアの担当者と会談した。トルコの国防相はシリアの国防相と交渉を行い、2011年以来初めてと報道された。
ロシア国防省は会談後の声明で、アンカラとダマスカスをそれぞれ代表するHulusi AkarとAli Mahmud Abbasが、「シリア危機の解決方法」と「シリアの過激派グループと戦うための共同の努力」、さらに難民問題の解決策について議論したと発表した。
双方は、この形式は「建設的」であるとし、シリアと地域全体の安定化のために議論を続けることに関心があると強調したと、モスクワは述べている。
この議題は、アンカラの国防省が発表した声明で確認された。トルコのメディアも、11年前にシリア紛争が始まって以来、隣国同士のこのレベルの会談は初めてだと指摘している。
トルコのレジェップ・タイイップ・エルドアン大統領は2012年3月にシリアとの国交を断絶している。 昨年10月、セルビアで開催された非同盟運動首脳会議で両国の外相が会談し、それぞれの情報機関が通信を再開したことが明らかにされた。
モスクワでの会談は、アカールがシリア北部のクルド人民兵に対するトルコの「クローソード作戦」のためのシリア領空使用についてモスクワと交渉していたことを明らかにした数日後のことである。
アンカラは、米国が支援するクルド人武装勢力をクルド労働者党(PKK)と連携するテロリストとみなしており、11月中旬にイスタンブールで6人が死亡、81人が負傷した自爆テロ事件の犯人とみなしている。
隣国間のより大きな争点は、ダマスカス政府の転覆を狙うシリアの反政府勢力をトルコが支援していることだ。反乱軍の残党は、ロシアの支援を受けたシリア軍に大敗し、シリア北西部のイドリブ県に後退した。
Turkish defence minister speaks on Syria after Moscow talks
Hulusi Akar met with his counterpart from Damascus on Wednesday to discuss ways to “ensure peace”
Türkiye respects Syria's borders and does not have territorial claims on the neighboring state, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has stated. He also stressed that Ankara’s sole objective in the region is to defeat the groups it deems terrorist organizations. The comments were made following a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Ali Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday in Moscow.
Akar’s press office quoted the minister as saying: “We emphasized that we respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty rights of all our neighbors, especially Syria and Iraq.” The Turkish official reiterated that Ankara seeks to “neutralize members of terrorist organizations” such as the Kurdish PKK, YPG, as well as ISIS.
Akar went on to say that the Turkish government is also aiming to “prevent further migration from Syria to Türkiye.”
“Our wish is for peace, tranquility, and stability to come to the region as soon as possible,” he added.
On Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu hosted a meeting between his Turkish and Syrian counterparts in the Russian capital. This was the first time Ankara’s and Damascus’ military chiefs had held official negotiations since the Syrian civil war broke out 11 years ago.
According to Syrian state media outlet SANA, both sides found the format to be “constructive” and indicated willingness to continue dialogue.
Türkiye agrees to withdraw troops from Syria following Moscow talks – mediaThe tripartite negotiations involving Ankara and Damascus were the first of their kind since the Syrian conflict began in 2011
Türkiye has agreed to fully withdraw its troops from northern Syria following tripartite talks involving Moscow, Ankara and Damascus earlier this week, Syrian newspaper Al-Watan has reported.
The three countries’ defense ministers – Hulusi Akar, Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Sergey Shoigu – met in Moscow on Wednesday for the first meeting of its kind since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
According to the paper’s source in Damascus, the negotiations resulted in “Türkiye’s consent to completely withdraw its troops from the Syrian territories that it occupies in the north of the country.”
Ankara and Damascus also expressed a common view that the Syrian-based Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey associates with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), “are agents of Israel and the US, and pose a grave threat to both Türkiye and Syria.”
Türkiye considers the separatist PKK and allied Kurdish groups to be “terrorist organizations” that threaten its national security. The Turkish military carried out airstrikes against YPG targets in northern Syria in November, with Ankara saying a ground operation in the area was also on the cards.
A special trilateral commission will be created by Russia, Türkiye and Syria to ensure that the agreements reached in Moscow are honored, Al-Watan reported.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told local media on Saturday that “one shouldn’t expect that everything will be solved at once in a single meeting.”
In Moscow, Türkiye “emphasized that we respect Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereign rights, and that our only goal is the fight against terrorism” including the PKK/YPG and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), he said.
Ankara and Damascus have agreed to continue talks to deepen reconciliation, Akar added. He also suggested that those negotiations could even result in a joint anti-terrorist operation involving the two countries, which would happen “if we can solve our problems related to defense and security, if we can meet our needs.”
The Syrian side had earlier described the meeting in the Russian capital as “positive,” while Russia’s Defense Ministry said the talks had been conducted in a constructive manner and stressed the need for the continuation of such engagement.
モスクワでの会談後、トルコはシリアからの軍撤退に合意-メディア
アンカラとダマスカスを含む三者協議は、2011年にシリア紛争が始まって以来、初めてのことであった。
シリアの新聞「アル・ワタン」は、今週初めに行われたモスクワ、アンカラ、ダマスカスを含む3カ国協議の後、トルコがシリア北部から軍隊を完全に撤退させることに同意したと報じました。
フルシ・アカル、アリ・マフムード・アッバス、セルゲイ・ショイグの3カ国国防相は水曜日にモスクワで、2011年のシリア紛争勃発後初の会談を行った。
同紙のダマスカスの情報筋によると、交渉の結果、"トルコが北部に占領しているシリア領土から軍隊を完全に撤退させることに同意した "という。
アンカラとダマスカスはまた、トルコが非合法のクルド労働者党(PKK)と関連付ける、シリアに拠点を置くクルド人民兵組織YPGは、"イスラエルとアメリカのエージェントであり、トルコとシリア双方にとって重大な脅威となる "という共通の見解を表明している。
トルコは、分離主義者のPKKと同盟関係にあるクルド人グループを、国家の安全を脅かす「テロ組織」とみなしている。トルコ軍は11月にシリア北部のYPGの標的に対して空爆を実施し、アンカラは同地域での地上作戦も視野に入れていると述べている。
モスクワでの合意が守られるよう、ロシア、トルコ、シリアの3カ国による特別委員会が設置されると、アル・ワタンは報じている。
トルコのフルシ・アカル国防相は土曜日に地元メディアに対し、"1回の会合ですべてが一度に解決すると期待すべきではない "と述べた。
モスクワで、トルコはPKK/YPGやイスラム国(IS、旧ISIS)を含む「シリアの領土保全と主権を尊重し、我々の唯一の目標はテロとの戦いであることを強調」したという。
アンカラとダマスカスは、和解を深めるための協議を継続することに合意したと、アカル氏は付け加えた。彼はまた、それらの交渉が、両国が関与する共同対テロ作戦につながる可能性さえあり、それは "もし我々が防衛と安全保障に関する問題を解決でき、我々のニーズを満たすことができれば "実現するだろうとも示唆した。
シリア側は先に、ロシアの首都での会談を「前向きなもの」と表現し、ロシア国防省は、会談は建設的な方法で行われたとし、このような関与の継続の必要性を強調した。
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