The US is concerned about a potential rapprochement between Turkey and Syria

The US is concerned about a potential rapprochement between Turkey and Syria because they continue to support the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants with military aid, stated Ömer Çelik, a representative of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

When asked about the prospects of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Çelik noted that it’s too early to discuss any dates. First, a meeting between the foreign ministers should take place, he emphasized.

“It’s very interesting that the US is concerned about this,” Çelik said in an interview with Habertürk TV.

He recalled that Washington had expressed dissatisfaction with a meeting between Assad and then-Turkish President Abdullah Gül, even before the Syrian crisis began, labeling Syria as a “pariah state.”

“The situation is now clear: the US has established support for the PYD, the Syrian PKK, and structures that we consider terrorist organizations. Our rapprochement with Syria is a nightmare for the terrorist organization (PKK). Thus, it’s evident that countries that patronize terrorist organizations aim to prevent normalization,” Çelik stated.

Erdoğan had previously stated that Ankara would not allow the PKK to create a terrorist state on its borders.

Ankara welcomes Russia‘s efforts to establish communication between Turkey and Syria, and will continue its own efforts to prepare the ground for normalizing relations with Damascus in good faith, without preconditions, the Turkish Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti earlier this week.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on August 31 that a meeting in the format of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Syria to normalize Ankara-Damascus relations will take place in the near future. He recalled that the parties managed to hold a meeting in 2023, involving defense ministries, foreign ministries, and special services, in an attempt to discuss conditions that could lead to normalization between Syria and Turkey.

There have been reports of a possible meeting between Assad and Erdoğan in recent times. For instance, the Hürriyet newspaper quoted sources as saying that such a meeting was expected to take place in Baghdad in August. Other media outlets noted that the talks might occur in Moscow. In early August, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov stated that Russia was ready to host the meeting.

The foreign ministers of the four countries held a meeting in Moscow on May 10, 2023. Following the meeting, they instructed the preparation of a roadmap project for normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria.

However, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later stated, in an address to the new convocation of the People’s Council (parliament), that there was no progress on this initiative, despite the sincere efforts of mediators, including Russia, Iran, and Iraq.