Senior Turkish and Syrian officials from foreign and defense ministries as well as intelligence have issued another warning to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for a swift and full integration with the Syrian national army in line with the March 10 agreement.
The warning came days before the deadline of the agreement which obliges the SDF to integrate with Damascus before the end of this year.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) President İbrahim Kalın traveled to Damascus on Dec. 22 to meet their Syrian counterparts Foreign Minister Assad Hassan Al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Hussein es-Salama.
The meetings were held in 3+3 format while the officials held bilateral meetings with their counterparts. The Turkish delegation, including Türkiye’s new ambassador to Damascus Nuh Yılmaz, was also received by Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Foreign Minister Fidan and his Syrian counterpart held a joint press conference following the lengthy talks.
“Unfortunately, we have not observed any progress as for the implementation of the agreement. We see that the SDF has no intentions to implement it,” Fidan said, accusing the SDF of staying in coordination with Israel. Fidan reiterated that Türkiye’s stance on this issue has not changed and is seeking a peaceful resolution to the problem.
Syrian Foreign Minister Shaibani, too, underlined that there was no progress in the implementation of March 10 agreement because the SDF is dragging its feet. He said the Defense Ministry has submitted a plan to resort to military means and it is being discussed at the governmental level.
The Syrian minister underlined that Damascus will not allow any sort of division and violation of its sovereignty across the country.
Israel-Syria talks
Foreign Minister Fidan informed that the delegations discussed an ongoing process for reaching a security agreement between Israel and Syria, something Türkiye is supporting.
“This will be in favor of the stability of Syria. Israel, instead of pursuing an expansionist policy, should better seek to build security cooperation with regional countries. This will be to the benefit of all,” the minister stated.
The fight against the ISIL terrorist organization was also on the agenda, Fidan said, recalling the Damascus’ joining the international anti-ISIL coalition.
“We have discussed what we can do together in the fight against the ISIL. We, as Türkiye, are ready to cooperate with Syria,” added the minister.
Syria has shown a great advance in the past year under the leadership of President Sharaa, Fidan stated, stressing that talks in Damascus were focused on how to deepen already strong cooperation and ties between the two countries, including economy, trade, return of the Syrian refuges.
