Erdogan hosts Syria's de facto president, offers 'support to rebuild'
Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met with Erdogan as part of the first visit of a Syrian official to Ankara in 13 years
Speaking alongside de facto Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Ankara on 4 February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkiye will support the Syrian people, who now have the necessary will to determine their future and rebuild the country.
After meeting with Sharaa, President Erdogan said, “As Turkiye, just as we did not abandon our Syrian brothers and sisters in their most difficult days, we will continue to provide them with the necessary support in this new period.”
“By acting in solidarity [with Syria], I believe we will completely establish an atmosphere of peace and security without terrorism in our shared geography,” President Erdogan added.
The Turkish government considers the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its offshoot in Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as terrorist organizations.
Erdogan also vowed to assist in rebuilding the war-torn country and help Syrian refugees return. “We are ready to support the reconstruction of Syria's devastated cities. As Syria's economic development accelerates, voluntary returns will also gain momentum,” he stated.
Sharaa's meeting with Erdogan is the first official Syrian delegation to visit Turkish territory in over 13 years.
Sharaa, the former head of Al-Qaeda in Syria, declared himself Syria's interim head of state last week.
Starting in 2011, Turkiye supported the US-led covert operation to topple the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Armed groups, including the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, received Israeli, western, Gulf, and Turkish weapons and financing. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were killed in the fighting, and millions made refugees.
The Nusra Front later rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Its fighters toppled Assad's government on 8 December last year.
Sharaa said his government hopes to establish official ties with the US in the coming days but has not yet spoken with White House officials.
“I believe that President Trump seeks peace in the area, and it is a top priority to lift the sanctions. The United States of America does not have any interest in maintaining the suffering of the Syrian people,” Sharaa said in an interview with The Economist published late on Monday.
Sharaa also stated that US troops were in Syria without government approval, adding that any such presence should be agreed upon with the state.
US troops occupy oil-rich northeast Syria in partnership with the SDF and have denied the country, which has been crushed economically by US sanctions, access to its energy resources.
During the interview, Sharaa also described US sanctions on Syria as “the gravest risk” to the country.
Erdogan and Sharaa's meeting comes as the Turkish army is planning to establish two new military bases in Syria that it will use to train the new armed forces in the country, unnamed Arab sources were cited as saying by the Turkiye newspaper on 3 February.
“Turkiye will train the country's army in two military bases it will establish in Syria,” the report states.
“Turkiye and Syria will sign a joint defense agreement. According to the agreement, which is expected to be signed soon, Ankara will help Syria if Damascus faces a sudden threat,” it added.