Assad “engages” with Putin, conditional “opening” to Erdogan

The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said he would welcome any Russian proposals to create new military bases and increase the number of Russian troops in Syria and added that its military presence of Russia there it should become permanent.

It is recalled that Russia’s intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015 decisively tipped the scales in Assad’s favor, ensuring the Syrian leader’s dominance against the West.

Assad, who met the president yesterday, Wednesday Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, supported Russia’s war in Ukraine and told the Russian state news agency RIA that Damascus recognizes Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia as Russian.

Syria, Assad said, would welcome any Russian proposals to create new military bases and increase Russian troop numbers – adding that those troops should not be temporary.

“We believe that the expansion of the Russian presence in Syria is a good thing,” Assad said in an interview with RIA. “Russia’s military presence in any country should not be based on anything temporary.” “We believe that if Russia has a desire to expand the bases or increase their number, the issue is technical or logistical.”

As reported by the Athens Agency, in addition to the Khmeimim airbase, from which Russia launches airstrikes in support of Assad, Moscow also controls the naval facility in Tartus, Syria, its only naval base in the Mediterranean, which it uses since the time of the Soviet Union.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in January that Russia and Syria had renovated the al-Jarrah airbase in northern Syria for joint use. Syrian government forces had recaptured this small base east of Aleppo from Islamic State fighters in 2017.

In Moscow, Assad thanked Putin for Russia’s aid to Syria after the devastating earthquake and praised the Kremlin chief, saying he supports Syria’s unity. Syria stands by Russia on the Ukraine issue, Assad stressed.

“As this is my first visit since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, I would like to reiterate Syria’s position in favor of this special operation,” Assad told Putin, according to the Kremlin.

Syria also recognizes Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian, Assad said. “I say these are Russian lands and even if the war had not taken place, these are historical Russian lands,” Assad told RIA. Assad also said that Russia and Syria plan to sign an economic cooperation agreement in the coming weeks.

Conditional “opening” to Erdogan

Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to meet with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the condition that the latter withdraws his troops from northern Syria.

It is noted that the Kremlin is seeking to reconcile Ankara with Damascus, whose relations have deteriorated since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011. Erdogan has repeatedly stated that he is ready to meet with Assad to seal the thaw in relations. In late December, the defense ministers of Turkey and Syria already met in Moscow, which happened for the first time since 2011. Diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran are due to meet this week in Moscow to prepare a meeting between the foreign ministers of the three countries, ahead of a possible summit of their presidents.

A meeting with Erdogan will be possible “when Turkey is ready, clearly and without hesitation, for the complete withdrawal of its troops from Syrian territory,” Assad told Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.

Ankara should also “stop all support for terrorism,” Assad added, referring to Turkey’s support for rebel groups opposed to the Damascus regime. “It is the only case in which a meeting with Erdogan could take place,” Assad insisted. “What would be the point of such a meeting and why should it be held if it does not lead to an eventual end to the war in Syria?” he continued.

Erdogan and Assad came to power in the early 2000s and initially struck up cordial relations after decades of tension between their two countries stemming from the breakup of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. But after the start of the conflict in Syria, which since 2011 has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions, Ankara backed Islamist groups seeking to overthrow the Syrian regime.