On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s initiative for a tripartite summit between Russia, Turkey and Syria to speed up the diplomatic process between Ankara and Damascus, while emphasizing that while working with Syria Russia does not fully agree with Turkey on all issues related to Operation Claw Sword in the North.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, in response to questions about Russia’s position on the Turkish president’s proposal, said, “We always welcome questions about the normalization of relations between neighboring sovereign states.”
“It is necessary to know what Damascus thinks about this initiative, but we can only welcome the position that Turkey has stated,” Bogdanov added, noting that Syria’s reaction to the initiative is unclear, but Ria Novosti reported that Moscow was in contact with Syrian officials on the matter.
positive vision
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday the establishment of a tripartite mechanism with Syria, Erdogan said in a statement to reporters accompanying him on a visit to Turkmenistan. This proposal, to which the latter expressed a positive opinion.
Erdogan explained that the Turkish proposal stipulated that there would first be a meeting between the intelligence services of the three countries, followed by a meeting at the defense level, followed by a meeting at the level of foreign ministers and finally a summit at the leaders’ level.
The Turkish President also confirmed that the “Sochi Agreement” and the “Astana Process” stipulate that Turkey’s security corridor on the southern border with Syria is extended to a depth of 30 kilometers. He also pointed out that the international coalition forces in Syria are supporting the Kurdish YPG, He called on all parties, led by the United States, to stop supporting the group he called a terrorist organization.
Erdogan confirmed in late November that his country’s relations with Syria “can return to normal in the next phase, just like Egypt, because there is no permanent political rivalry.”
Russia agrees
On the other hand, Kurdish media quoted Ilham Ahmed, the co-chairman of the “Syrian Democratic Council” (the political branch of the so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces”), as saying that there were media reports that the Turkish president had received Putin’s Approved to launch a military operation in an area known as the “Syrian Democratic Forces” in northeastern Syria, but has not been confirmed by Moscow.
Ilham Ahmed said that if this happens, the “Syrian Democratic Council” doubts Turkey’s reconciliation with the Syrian regime, and that the expansion of NATO (NATO) should not be done until the “Kurdish” issue is resolved. At the expense of the so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces”.
On the other hand, Syrian regime media reported that within the framework of the Sochi Agreement reached in March 2020, Russian and Turkish forces conducted a battle on Thursday in several villages under the control of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” north of Hasakah. Joint military patrols.
The Turkish Defense Ministry also announced the elimination of three so-called “terrorists” of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” in northern Syria.
Local sources told Al Jazeera that the Syrian Democratic Forces’ positions in the town of Ain Issa north of Raqqa and near the (M4) road were bombed by artillery from the Turkish army.
The Manbij military council of the “Syrian Democratic Forces” under the leadership and leadership of the Kurdish “People’s Protection Forces” stated that the Turkish army used mortar shells to attack the village of Tohar Kabir in the eastern rural area of Aleppo, causing material damage.
Turkey launched Operation Claw Sword against the YPG, the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in northern and northeastern Syria on Nov. 20, after Turkey accused the YPG and the PKK of planning the massacre on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street. The bombing, which Kurdish militants deny, killed six people.