SOHR: Protests in northern Syria criticize Turkish minister’s remarks

Hundreds of Syrian opposition supporters demonstrated Friday in northwestern Syria, including in front of a Turkish army post, to denounce remarks by Turkey’s foreign minister urging reconciliation with the Syrian president. Bashar Assad.

On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that Turkey supports a political reconciliation between the Syrian opposition factions and the Assad government, for the sake of peace.

Although this position by Ankara is not new in principle, some interpreted Cavusoglu’s comments as a betrayal of the Syrian opposition after years of Turkish support.

Since Syria’s civil war broke out following an uprising against Assad in 2011, Turkey has been the opposition’s main backer. Turkey is also home to 3.65 million Syrians who fled the war at home.

Turkey has also long negotiated on the international stage on behalf of Syrian factions opposed to Assad and supported armed groups while bringing parts of northern Syria under the control of the Turkish and Turkish-backed opposition through cross-border military operations.

At Friday’s protest outside a Turkish military post in the northwestern Syrian city of Mastoumeh, protesters chanted that “the Turkish army is a traitor” and that “the Syrian people are not for sale.”

“We do not want to reconcile with the child killer,” read a banner carried by a Syrian child in Mastoumeh, referring to Assad.

There were also reports of overnight protests in the northern Syrian cities of Azaz, al-Bab, Afrin, Tel Abyad and Idlib, which is the last area held by the rebels.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said angry protesters in the city of Azaz stormed the security headquarters and then marched to the local council building where they lowered the Turkish flag and burned it.

In Azaz, protesters painted graffiti on the walls that read: “Down with Turkey and down with the regime!” while others carried signs denouncing Cavusoglu.

There were calls for the removal of all Turkish flags from parts of northern Syria, the Observatory said.

In his remarks, Cavusoglu also claimed that Turkey has had no diplomatic contacts with Syria since their ties were severed in 2012, but added that in 2021 he had an informal conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, on the sidelines of a Non-Summit of the Aligned Movement in Belgrade, Serbia.

“We have to somehow reconcile the opposition and the Syrian regime. Otherwise, there can be no lasting peace,” Cavusoglu said Thursday.

His comments followed a question about whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might talk to Assad soon. Cavusoglu said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years urged the two leaders to talk and that Erdogan has preferred that the intelligence services of the two countries communicate with each other, which they have done from time to time and now does. have resumed.

On Friday, the Foreign Ministry released a statement reaffirming its support for the Syrian opposition and saying that Turkey has worked hard to find a solution to the Syrian conflict “in line with the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.”

“Our solidarity with the Syrian people will continue,” the statement said.