Syria has been urged by Turkey, the US to hold talks with the opposition after a sudden development – National
Recent advances by opposition forces in Syria show that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his people and negotiate with the opposition, Turkey's foreign minister said on Monday.
In a joint press conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan Fidan said that Turkey and Iran, which support the opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, have agreed to resume diplomatic efforts with Russia to restore peace days after the terrorists started lightning and captured almost. the largest city in the country, Aleppo.
Insurgents captured four new towns early Tuesday, opposition activists said, while government forces retook some territory they lost last week.
The capture of the cities is the latest in a push by the salafi jihadi-led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as well as Turkish-backed opposition fighters. The insurgents are now 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Hama, the country's fourth largest city.
The rapid development has been a major embarrassment for Assad and comes at a time when his allies – Iran and Russia – are busy with their own conflicts.
The crackdown is among the heaviest insurgency in years and raises the prospect of a re-opening of violent conflict in the Middle East where US-backed Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both groups allied with Iran.
Fidan, whose country has been supporting anti-Assad militias, blamed the latest outbreak of unrest on the Syrian government's refusal to enter into talks with Turkish-backed opposition groups.
“Recent events also show that Damascus must reconcile with its people and the legitimate opposition,” said the Turkish minister. “Turkey is ready to make all necessary contributions in this regard.”
Fidan's comments came amid frustration in Turkey that recent efforts to reconcile with Assad have fallen flat. These comments indicate that the shocking attack launched by the opposition may be aimed at pressuring the Syrian leader to engage in political negotiations.
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Turkey has sought to normalize relations with Syria to address security threats from Kurdish militant-linked groups on its southern border and to help ensure the safe return of more than three million Syrian refugees. Assad stressed that Turkey's withdrawal of its troops from northern Syria was a condition for any normalization between the two countries.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who visited Assad on Sunday before going to Ankara, stressed Tehran's full support for the Syrian government. Iran has been one of Assad's biggest political and military backers and has sent military advisers and troops after the 2011 protests against Assad's regime turned into an all-out war.
Iraqi forces backed by Iran have deployed to Syria to support the anti-terrorist government, an Iraqi army chief and military monitor said on Monday.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition war monitor, 200 Iraqi soldiers in vans crossed into Syria overnight by crossing Bou Kamal. They are expected to deploy to Aleppo to support the Syrian army in the fight against the rebels, said the monitor.
Meanwhile, an Associated Press video showed armed terrorists at Aleppo's international airport, one of them standing on a Syrian government flag and others tearing down a statue of Assad.
Terrorists were also seen boarding abandoned planes and roaming airstrips full of weapons and ammunition boxes.
Rebel attacks in Syria have raised concerns in neighboring countries that the conflict could spill over. In Iraq, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Brig. General Miqdad Miri said the security forces have invested heavily to protect their main border with Syria.
Fidan reiterated that Turkey supports the territorial integrity of Syria, but suggested that Turkey would not hesitate to intervene against Syrian Kurdish militia groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists if they “exploit the unstable environment.”
“It was a mistake to ignore the legitimate demands of the opposition and for the (Syrian) regime not to engage sincerely in the political process,” Fidan said.
He added, Turkey, “will never allow terrorist organizations that want to exploit the environment of instability,” said Fidan. “We will eliminate any threat to the security of our country and our people wherever it appears.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his hope that the instability in Syria will end “in accordance with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.” He spoke on Monday at a joint press conference with the president of Montenegro.
Both Fidan and Araghchi said Turkey, Iran and Russia would convene a new three-way meeting to address the conflict in Syria.
“We have decided to hold talks and close discussions, and with God's permission, we will work together to improve the situation for peace and stability in our region,” said Araghchi.
Russia, whose intervention in the civil war in Syria on behalf of Assad has been instrumental in turning the conflict in his favor, has said it will continue to support him.
“We are continuing our communication at the appropriate level,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. “A position will be formed about what is needed to make the situation better.”
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that the Assad regime has ignored the resolutions of the Security Council and refused to come to the table.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, and we will continue to communicate with our partners in the region to find a way for the situation to return to calm,” he said.
As Syrian and Russian airstrikes continued, two airstrikes hit a group of four hospitals and the building of the directorate of health in the city of Idlib, the Syrian Defense Forces, which operate in areas held by the opposition, known as the White Helmets, said the Syrian Defense Forces.
Two people at Idlib University Hospital died after their oxygen machines turned off following the strikes. Ceiling panels and doors in the hospital were blown up, while ambulances and cars outside were severely damaged according to a photo taken by an Associated Press reporter at the hospital.
At least 15 people were killed in the city and province of Idlib, according to the White Helmets.
Syrian Kurds have been fleeing the war en masse after Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from rival Kurdish forces in the US. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces withdrew heavily and called for a humanitarian zone to allow people to move safely in droves to Aleppo and later to the Kurdish-led northeastern areas.
