Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria’s newly appointed President Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed deepened security ties – including a response to Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria – during a meeting in Ankara.
The visit on Tuesday marked al-Sharaa’s second international trip since officially becoming Syria’s interim leader, having met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh earlier this week.
Al-Sharaa led the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that toppled the government of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive in December.
Speaking alongside al-Sharaa at a news conference in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkiye is ready to partner with Syria’s new leadership, particularly when it came to fighting the armed group ISIL (ISIS) and Kurdish fighters based in northeast Syria.
“I would like to express our satisfaction for the strong commitment my brother Ahmed al-Sharaa has shown in the fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said.
“I told al-Sharaa we are ready to provide the necessary support to Syria in the fight against all kinds of terrorism, whether it be Daesh or the PKK,” he added, referring to the Arabic acronym for ISIL and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Turkiye, which shares a border with Syria, views several Syrian Kurdish groups located near its southern demarcation as “terrorists”. Those include the PKK as well as the People’s Defense Unit (YPG).
The YPG makes up a large portion of the US-supported, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which controls a large swath of Syria’s northeast.
The SDF remains the key ally in a US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Syria. But since the fall of al-Assad, Turkish officials have increasingly pushed to take over the operation.
Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said al-Sharaa received a “very warm welcome” from Erdogan as he again pushed to take over the anti-ISIL fight and vowed pressure on Kurdish fighters.
“[Erdogan] reasserted Turkiye is ready to help control the [ISIL prison] camps in north and eastern Syria, meaning the camps controlled and administered by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the YPG, the Syrian Kurdish fighter group,” Koseoglu said.
“He said the fight against [ISIL] and the PKK should continue.”
Defence, migrants, trade
For his part, al-Sharaa said his government sought a “strategic partnership” with Turkey as he invited Erdogan to visit Syria “at the earliest opportunity”.
The statements underscore a major realignment in the region with Ankara having severed ties with Damascus in 2011 after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war and opposed al-Assad throughout the conflict.
“We are working on building a strategic partnership with Turkiye to confront the security threats in the region to guarantee permanent security and stability to Syria and Turkiye,” al-Sharaa said.
He added the pair discussed “threats that prevent territorial unity in northeastern Syria” – an apparent reference to the US-backed SDF. Al-Sharaa has rejected any form of Kurdish self-rule and urged the SDF to hand over their weapons.
The two leaders also discussed a new defence pact that had been widely reported in recent days, Koseoglu reported. The pact could see Turkey establish new bases in Syria, beyond those that already exist along Turkey’s border.
“The military bases that Turkiye established within the last couple of years to protect its borders from the PKK and YPG attacks are still there. They haven’t shut down,” Koseoglu said. “But they are talking about new military bases. The whereabouts are, for now, unknown.”
Following the meeting, Erdogan pledged to continue to press for the lifting of international sanctions imposed on Syria during al-Assad’s rule. Relief from the sanctions has been al-Sharaa’s top priority as he has undertaken an aggressive diplomatic push in recent weeks.
Erdogan added it’s important for Arab and Muslim countries to support the new Damascus government – financially and otherwise – in the period of transition.
On the issue of Syrian refugees and migrants, Erdogan said he believed the voluntary return of Syrians would pick up pace as the country becomes more stable.
Turkiye hosted the greatest number of Syrian refugees following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 – more than 3.8 million at its peak in 2022.
The pair also discussed economic ties. That comes as Turkish transport and manufacturing firms have increasingly eyed expansion plans for Syria.
