Turkey agrees to pull out its troops from Syria: Reports
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Turkey committed to totally withdrawing its forces from Syria and to respecting the Arab country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a source as quoted by Syrian media.
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A Turkish soldier waves a flag on Mount Barsaya. (Reuters)
The Arabic-language Al-Watan newspaper reported that the meeting between defense ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Syria, which was held in Moscow on Wednesday, established an agreement on some critical topics, most notably the withdrawal of Turkish groups from Syria.
Turkey committed during the meeting in Moscow to totally withdraw its forces from Syria and to respect the Arab country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a source said as quoted by the newspaper.
The conference was attended by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, his Syrian counterpart Ali Mahmoud Abbas, and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
According to the report, Syria and Turkey also addressed the fulfillment of a 2020 deal to reopen the M4 highway in northwest Syria along the Turkish border.
Participants also stressed that the PKK organization, dubbed "terrorist" by Turkey, has served as a puppet in the hands of the US and the Zionist dictatorship and should be seen as a big threat to both Syria and Turkey.
They also agreed to form specialized committees to follow up on the meeting's agreements and to arrange additional rounds of negotiations between Ankara and Damascus in the future.
The meeting between Turkey and Syria's defense ministers was termed as pleasant by Syria's Ministry of Defense late Wednesday.
Simultaneously, the Russian Ministry added, at the conclusion of the meeting, that the defense ministers highlighted that the dialogue was constructive, stressing the need for all three parties to hold further talks to bring more stability to Syria and the whole region.
On Friday, Ankara announced its intention to transfer control over the areas where Turkish forces are present in Syria to Damascus if political stability is achieved and indicated the possibility of joint work in the future with the Syrian authorities to combat terrorism.
It is noteworthy that on November 23, Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia's special presidential envoy for Syria, told reporters that Russia has been receiving indications from Ankara and Damascus about being open to making steps toward one another and about hopes for a Syrian-Turkish rapprochement.
In early October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was ready to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad when the time was right, noting that there were modest talks between Ankara and Damascus.
"There are intelligence meetings between the both of us currently," Erdogan pointed out in response to a question posed by Al Mayadeen's correspondent to Prague.
The Turkish President also hinted at the possibility of reconsidering relations with Damascus after the 2023 elections in Turkey.
But Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) member and former MP Orhan Miroğlu announced in early December that Damascus rejected Ankara's request to arrange a meeting between the two presidents.
"Damascus intends to postpone the meeting between Erdogan and Al-Assad until after the Turkish elections," Miroğlu said as quoted by Sputnik.
In mid-October, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said Russia has offered to mediate a meeting between Erdogan and Al-Assad, but the Turkish leader "is not very warm" to this idea yet.
In an article written by Abdulkadir Selvi in the pro-Erdogan newspaper, Hurriyet, it was revealed that the Turkish President expressed that he had an interest in meeting with his Syrian counterpart had he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan.
In the same context, Reuters cited four sources as saying that the heads of the Turkish and Syrian intelligence - Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk - met in Damascus and held several meetings.
