Orhan Miroglu: “a meeting between Erdogan and Assad on the sidelines of the Shanghai summit in Samarkand was on the schedule”

A member of the Central Decision and Execution Committee of the Justice and Development Party, Orhan Miroglu, confirmed today, Friday, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ready to meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, and did not reject the idea of ​​meeting him.

 "The United States of America and the European Union wanted a solution without President Assad in Syria, but today it turned out that this is not possible due to changing circumstances," Miroğlu told Sputnik.

 He added that "President al-Assad and the Syrian Baath Party have maintained their strength in Syria to some extent, despite the war and crisis facing the country," saying: "It became clear today that the idea of ​​separating Assad from the Baath Party and reaching a solution to the crisis in the country is no longer valid as a result of changing circumstances. ".

 

The Turkish official pointed out that "the circles of the Turkish government, led by President Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, welcome the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus and the holding of meetings with the Syrian side, and they do not radically reject this idea."

 

He explained, "It was scheduled to hold a meeting between Erdogan and Assad on the sidelines of the Shanghai summit in Samarkand, and I do not know whether Assad participated in the summit or not."

 

He pointed out that "during the meeting of the decision and central implementation body of the Justice and Development Party held on September 12, a conviction was reached that they could meet on the sidelines of the summit in the event that al-Assad attends."

 

Miroğlu considered that "the meeting between the governments of the two countries, or the officials of the two countries, has become inevitable in order to reach a solution in the country, whatever the form of this solution."

 

In response to a question whether the head of the Turkish intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, had visited Damascus to meet his Syrian counterpart Ali Mamlouk, Miroğlu replied: "It is possible that Fidan met his Syrian counterpart Mamlouk, because the intelligence services are preparing the atmosphere to improve the crisis relations between the two countries." .

 

He continued, "I believe that Fidan met Mamlouk in order to pave the way for the resumption of diplomatic relations between Ankara and Damascus, and this Fidan campaign can be considered as a preparatory step for the resumption of diplomatic relations, and this is natural and inevitable."

 

And Miroğlu added that "the withdrawal of the Turkish army from Syrian territory is currently out of the question in light of the presence of the PKK threat," noting that "the reason for the presence of Turkish forces in Syria is the PKK, its threats and Ankara's efforts to protect its national unity and territorial integrity, while the party seeks to establish an entity in northern Syria, and this threatens Turkey.”

 

And after that, "Turkey's demand to withdraw its forces and cut its support for the armed Syrian opposition in the presence of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) run by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, does not contribute to the dialogue process and is not realistic at all."

 

He stressed that "the Turkish army may withdraw from Syrian territory when the threat is removed, and this will only be done by eliminating the PKK."

 

Earlier in the day, the Turkish pro-government newspaper, Hurriyet, reported in an article by writer Abdul Qadir Salafi that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had expressed a desire to meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, if he attended the Shanghai summit in Uzbekistan, but indicated that Assad was not participating. 

Abdulkadir Salafi, a columnist for Hurriyet newspaper, stated that Erdogan made these statements about Assad at a meeting of his ruling party (Justice and Development) held behind closed doors, on Monday.