Syrian president calls for Turkish troop withdrawal for normalizing ties

Shafaq News/ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday said that the "withdrawal of Turkish forces" from his country is "an essential precondition" for resuming normal ties between Damascus and Ankara.

This statement, as reported by the official Syrian News Agency "SANA", was made during al-Assad's meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, and his accompanying delegation in the Syrian capital earlier today.

Before the recent presidential and legislative elections, Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sought to organize a meeting with Syria's al-Assad. However, the latter demanded a prior withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria as a prerequisite for the meeting.

Back then, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, reiterated his country's stance which considers the military presence in Syria essential to counter "terrorism". He stated, "We need to ensure there is no threat against us there."

Beyond supporting opposition factions, Turkey has carried out multiple military operations in Syria, especially against Kurdish groups it deems "terrorist."

The meeting, according to SANA, saw Agency al-Assad and Abdollahian discussing "bilateral relations, regional situations, and efforts related to the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland."

Abdollahian, for his part, stressed the importance of "respecting Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and "Iran's commitment to implement the agreements" signed during the visit of Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, to Damascus.

Raisi's trip to the Syrian capital around four months ago was the first visit by an Iranian president since 2010. At that time, Raisi told journalists, "We don't think the level of economic activity between Iran and Syria matches the political relations between the two countries. We believe there should be a leap forward in trade relations."

Tehran stands as one of the primary allies of the Syrian regime, alongside Russia, and has provided military, political, and economic support over the past years. Iran by some estimates has spent more than $30 billion over the last decade to support Damascus, in addition to tens of billions in assistance to Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Calls for ending the government's regional interventions have echoed during protests in the past five years.

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