Turkey ready to cooperate with Syria on refugees, 'counterterrorism'

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Ankara is ready to cooperate with Damascus on counterterrorism and the repatriation of Syrian refugees if Syria acts "realistically", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusogly said on Monday.

"We are holding talks with the Syrian regime through intelligence channels," Cavusoglu said while speaking before parliament during a discussion on the Foreign Ministry's budget.

Turkish presidency spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin revealed earlier that there are periodic direct contacts between the Turkish intelligence agencies and their Syrian counterparts for the sake of national interests.

"Currently, there is no political contact with Syria, but as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, our intelligence agencies have periodic contact with their Syrian counterparts to serve our national interests," Kalin told Haberturk back in June.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in late November he was ready to meet with his Syrian counterpart when the time was right, noting that there were modest talks between Ankara and Damascus.

"I may meet Al-Assad when the time is right... I am not politically accustomed to absolutely affirming or negating. Of course, we may meet with the Syrian President," Erdogan said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted in November at the possibility of reconsidering relations with Damascus after the 2023 elections in Turkey.

In response to a question, prior to his return from Indonesia, about the nature of relations with Egypt and Syria, Erdogan said it is possible to reconsider relations with Syria and Egypt after the elections that Turkey will witness in June 2023.

Regarding a possible meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad under Russian mediation, the Turkish President said this matter can be evaluated when the time is right, pointing out that there was no eternal resentment or quarreling in politics.

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, an indication of Russia's efforts to mediate and ameliorate the decade-long tension between the two geographical neighbors. 

The most recent meetings - including a two-day visit by Fidan to Damascus at the end of August - had sought to lay the ground for sessions at a higher level, a local source close to Damascus told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) member and former MP Orhan Miroğlu announced last week that Damascus rejected Ankara's request to arrange a meeting between Presidents Erdogan and Al-Assad.

"Damascus intends to postpone the meeting between Erdogan and Al-Assad until after the Turkish elections," Miroğlu told Sputnik.