The Turkish opposition stands for the preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria and the normalization of the situation in the neighboring country on the basis of the Astana process. This was announced on Friday, March 18, by Unal Cheviköz, a member of the local parliament, foreign policy adviser to the Turkish presidential candidate, the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroglu.
According to Ceviköz, the party believes that relations between Turkey and Syria should be based and developed within the framework of good neighborliness, writes TASS. He noted that the party hopes for the normalization of relations between the two countries in the future.
“We have always supported the negotiations on a peaceful Syrian settlement. The Astana process was created as a basis and guarantee for the Syrian settlement and remains so,” the adviser to the Turkish presidential candidate emphasized.
In addition, he added that the opposition is in favor of creating the necessary conditions for the voluntary and safe return of Syrian refugees who are in Turkey. It is noted that as of the beginning of 2023, there were about 3.5 million of them.
As Profile.ru reported, a member of the Council for Security and Foreign Policy under the Turkish President said that being a friend to Syria and Turkey, as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia can contribute to rapprochement Damascus and Ankara and the development of these relations. According to him, even if the normalization process drags on, the situation will still be better than six months ago, when there was no talk of rapprochement between Turkey and Syria.
In 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria. Turkey maintained close relations with Damascus before the conflict, but then sided with the opponents of the Syrian president. As a result, relations between the two countries deteriorated. Negotiations began in 2017. They are known as the “Astana format”.
