Erdogan: Turkiye will assist Syria with state structure, constitution

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + NYT
20 Dec 2024 17:38

Erdogan details future Turkish assistance to Syria's new government during a brief interview with reporters.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, on November 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP)

Turkiye will assist Syria's new government with forming a state structure and drafting a new constitution, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.

Erdogan spoke to reporters on a return flight from a D-8 meeting in Egypt, saying that his foreign minister Hakan Fidan will visit Damascus soon to discuss the "new structure".

The Turkish president hoped that the formation of a new Syrian government, under the leadership of Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, would enhance bilateral ties between the neighboring countries.

Moreover, Erdogan expressed his pleasure with Western and Muslim governments developing contact with al-Sharaa. He also said that he will hold talks with United States President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office next month.

He also stressed the need to lift sanctions imposed on the previous regime to allow the country to rebuild.

Transition principles that ensure international recognition

In the same context, The New York Times (NYT) reported on a meeting between American, Arab, and Turkish officials, where officials panned out a process to discuss "transition principles" with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the internationally-listed terror headed by al-Sharaa.

The meeting, which occurred last weekend in Aqaba, Jordan, saw officials agree to basic principles for discussions with the new Syrian leadership. This includes the building of an "inclusive process" for governance, which would see the fair treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians.

"We laid out together some principles for what we expect going forward in Syria if what emerges in Syria wants to have the recognition, the support that it’s going to need from the international community," US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said.

"So I think that was a very useful exercise in kind of laying out those expectations, the principles that we put out," he underlined.

The new Syrian regime took over the government on December 8 after the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad, following a brief offensive led by HTS.