By Barçın Yinanç
When Syria’s new foreign minister chose to go to Saudi Arabia and Qatar for his first international visits before coming to Turkey, the main opposition party criticized the government, asking why Asaad al-Shaibani did not choose to reciprocate the visits of the Turkish foreign minister who went to Damascus two weeks after the fall of the Assad regime.
For experts, this was only natural since Syria is first and foremost an Arab country and prioritizing relations with Turkey would have caused irritation among Arab capitals. In addition, while Turkey is struggling with its own economic hardships, Syria’s new rulers need Gulf money to get the country on its feet.
This is why Ankara is said to have told Syria's transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa to make his first visit to Riyadh before coming to Ankara.
Still, al-Sharaa’s low-profile visit stood in contrast to the euphoric rhetoric among the pro-government circles about the bright future between the two countries following the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8.
The press conference between the Turkish president and his guest offered little in terms of the substance of the talks.
Reuters had reported Feb. 5 that Turkey and the Syrian administration were to discuss a joint defense pact during talks between their presidents, including establishing two Turkish airbases and a land base in Syrian desert.
There was no mention of such a defence pact during the press conference. In anothe news, military sources told Reuters it was too early to talk about any agreement that would see Ankara establish military bases there.
“We don’t need airbases in Syria. We already have airbases near the Syrian border. Having a land base in the middle of the Syrian desert will lead to serious confrontation with Israel,” said retired ambassador Hakan Okçal.
“In line with the requests of the new Syrian government, we will work for concrete steps and a road map for the development of the Syrian army's capacity,” Turkish Defense Ministry sources told the press after the visit.
No doubt the two sides talked about the future of the PKK’s presence in northeast Syria.
Talking to Anadolu news agency (AA), Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan appeared content with al- Sharaa’s approach to the issue. He also seemed understanding of al-Sharaa’s preference to solve it with dialogue and negotiations.
“No scenarios should be put in life that will threaten the country’s sovereignty and national unity. In that respect, I observed that al-Sharaa’s and his friends’ minds are very clear. This clear vision satisfies Turkey’s security needs,” he told AA.
Repeating the call that the PKK should be expelled from Syria, Fidan said, “We see a willingness to solve this initially through dialogue and compromise. This is what we want as well.”
FROZEN PROBLEMS ON THE TABLE
Meanwhile, frozen problems between Turkey and Syria were also discussed, according to Fidan.
The first should be the recognition of the Hatay region as part of Turkey, said former diplomat Okçal.
The Hatay region, located on the coast north of Latakia, was originally a part of Syria according to the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon. In 1939, following a popular referendum, Hatay became a Turkish province. But the Assad regime never accepted the result of the referendum and the province was shown as part of Syria on maps.
The second issue must be the water dispute, according to Okçal, since Turkey’s construction of large dams and irrigation systems on the transboundary Tigris and Euphrates rivers has led to tension with both Syria and Iraq.
FİDAN INVITED TO SYRIA CONFERENCE IN PARIS
The willingness of France to play an active role in Syria could pose a serious dilemma for Turkey.
Ankara wants Syria to normalize its relations with the Western world in order to attract Western financing to reconstruct the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron became the first EU head of state to call the Syrian leader. Macron congratulated Al-Sharaa on assuming the presidency and invited him to Paris, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
France is also organizing a conference in Paris on Feb. 13, aimed at coordinating regional and international action in support of Syria’s transitional process.
Syrian Foreign Minister will attend the conference, according to Reuters. Fidan is also invited. Yet, the French foreign minister said representatives of the Kurds will also attend the conference, which would prove problematic for Fidan, who recently talked of France as “a small country” to criticize its stance against the YPG/PKK in Syria.
