Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review

‘Baghdad may host Erdoğan-Assad talks’

An expected meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian counterpar­t, Bashar al-Assad, to restore diplomatic relations is likely to take place in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on July 13.

“The relations between Türkiye and Syria are complicate­d but there are still contacts between the two countries through Iraq. There is an Iraqi initiative to bring the two sides together in Baghdad,” Hussein told reporters in Washington during a NATO summit.

Hussein said the proposal followed signals from both Ankara and Damascus indicating openness to rapprochem­ent.

Türkiye and Syria have been at odds since the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 plunged the latter into a protracted and devastatin­g conflict.

The war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, involved numerous foreign powers and fragmented the country.

Assad has recently shown a willingnes­s to mend ties with Türkiye. In response, Erdoğan said he might invite Assad to Türkiye “at any moment.”

Hussein’s remarks confirmed an earlier report by the Syrian daily Al-Watan that the first round of talks to normalize relations would be held in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Syrian diplomats said any normalizat­ion of ties would depend on Ankara withdrawin­g troops from its territory, according to state news agency SANA.

Türkiye has control over a large territory in northern Syria as a result of operations between 2016 and 2020.

Normalizat­ion is contingent on returning to “pre-2011 conditions and that it is in the common interest of both nations,” said a statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry.

“The Syrian Arab Republic expresses its thanks and appreciati­on to the friendly and brotherly countries that are making sincere efforts to improve Syrian-Turkish relations,” it added.

Syria set to hold parliament­ary election

Meanwhile, Syria is set to hold a parliament­ary election in government-held areas today. It is the fourth election to Syria’s parliament since civil war erupted in 2011. In central Damascus, candidates put up campaign posters promising to revive the economy. Authoritie­s earlier announced that 8,953 candidates are competing for a seat in the parliament.