Türkiye, US to work together on Syria despite differences

ANKARA

Türkiye and the United States have discussed what roles they can play for ensuring a healthy, inclusive and stable power transition in Syria despite their differences on the continued support of Washington to the YPG terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a two-day visit to Ankara where he met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The talks between the two allies were overwhelmingly focused on Syria following the Assad rule's collapse on Dec. 8.

"Stabilizing Syria as soon as possible, eliminating terrorism and preventing the dominance of DAESH and PKK are among our priorities," Fidan said in a brief statement after his meeting with Blinken on Dec. 13.

“What can we do on all this? What are our common concerns and what solutions can we find to address them? We have discussed these issues in detail."

Stressing that this might be the last visit of Blinken to Ankara under his current capacity, the minister thanked his counterpart for his efforts for the bilateral ties.

US underlines importance of fight against ISIL

For his part, Blinken stressed the importance for the Syrian people to make good use of the opportunity from the collapse of the Assad regime by reaching out for a better future for the country.

He stressed that there was general consensus between Ankara and Washington on what kind of a new Syria they want to see. The main point of difference between the two capitals is, however, the role of the YPG.

According to a statement by the Communications Directorate after the Erdoğan-Blinken meeting, the Turkish president made clear that “primarily for its national security, Türkiye will take preventive measures against all terrorist organizations operating in Syria and posing a threat to Türkiye, mainly the PKK/PYD/YPG and DAESH.”

Erdoğan also underlined that “Türkiye will prevent PKK and its extensions from taking advantage of the situation on the ground and will never allow any weakness in the fight against DAESH.”

In statements before his arrival to Ankara, Blinken reiterated Washington’s emphasis on the fight against ISIL and praised the role of the YPG in weakening ISIL in eastern Syria. In Ankara, he repeated this stance, stressing, “It’s imperative that we keep these efforts.”

 Jordan holds international meet on Syria

In the meantime, Jordan is set hold an international meeting with the participation of prominent Arab and regional countries as well as Türkiye, the U.S., the EU and the U.N. in Aqaba on Dec. 14 to discuss the developments in Syria and the establishment of a new rule in the Arab country.

Blinken said they will continue their discussion on Syria in Jordan. The meeting is expected to focus on the implementation of the resolution of 2254 of the U.N. Security Council that stipulates a road map for the rewriting of the Syrian constitution, the establishment of an inclusive interim government and holding general elections.