ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said that he is waiting for his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to respond to his overtures for a rapprochement, as demands are growing in Turkey for the expulsion of some three million Syrian refugees.
“To end this tension and bring peace and stability to all of Syria, steps that Turkey and Syria can take together are crucial... Millions of people outside of Syria are waiting to return to their homeland,” Erdogan said during a press conference in Istanbul ahead of traveling to New York for the UN General Assembly.
“We have also expressed our willingness to meet with Bashar al-Assad to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria. Now we are waiting for a response from the other side. We are ready for this,” he added.
Anti-refugee sentiments were blamed for riots in Turkey this summer as Syrians are taking some of the blame for a struggling economy.
Erdogan was one of the harshest critics of Assad and throughout the Syrian conflict Turkey has supported rebel forces, including those with links to al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. Turkey has also launched repeated incursions into Syrian territory, most notably against the Kurds in Afrin in 2018, and continues to occupy large swathes of the country’s north.
But with growing resentment towards Syrian refugees in Turkey, Erdogan has now signaled a willingness to restore ties with his neighbor.
In July, Erdogan said that he might invite Assad to Turkey, a month after Assad told a Russian delegation that he was open to “all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Turkey.”
However, Assad, who is backed by Iran and its proxies, has repeatedly preconditioned any potential rapprochement on the full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria.
During a trip to Egypt earlier this month, Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stated that Damascus will only deal with Turkey after it withdraws from Syria and Iraq.
Erdogan said on Saturday that he will address the Syrian conflict when in New York.
“We will clearly state that the tension in Syria must end and that the instability there, especially with the involvement of terrorist organizations and Israel's state terrorism, must be highlighted,” Erdogan said, referring to Israeli strikes targeting foes in Syria.
