Syrian President Assad says rapprochement efforts with Turkey have failed | Türkiye-Syria border

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said efforts to improve relations with Turkey had so far failed to bring any tangible results.

These initiatives have not yielded any results worthy of mention despite the seriousness and real commitment of the mediators, Assad said in a speech to the Syrian parliament on Sunday, referring to recent conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.

Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which Ankara backed rebels seeking to overthrow Assad.

The Syrian president and his regime have been accused by international bodies and human rights organizations of committing war crimes after millions of Syrian civilians fled government-held areas and the country as a whole.

The solution lies in openness, President Assad said. To restore a relationship, one must first eliminate the causes that led to its destruction.

The Syrian president also made it clear that while he wanted Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, this was not a condition for negotiations.

What is false is what some Turkish officials recently announced, according to which Syria said that if it did not withdraw, it would not meet with the Turks, al-Assad said.

These statements are far from reality, al-Assad added.

In July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a staunch supporter of the anti-Assad Syrian opposition, said he would invite Assad at any time for possible negotiations to restore relations.

Al-Assad said later in the month that he was open to meeting with Erdogan, but that it depended on the content of the meetings, noting that Turkey's presence in Syria was a key sticking point.

Russia has tried to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it might try to bring the two leaders together.

A Turkish newspaper had earlier reported that Erdogan and Assad could meet in August, but a Turkish diplomat denied the report.

Since the start of the civil war, Turkey has become a lifeline for the Syrian opposition, providing a base for military and political figures.

The country is also militarily involved in areas along its border with northern Syria, as Ankara considers the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates in the region as its main security threat that must be addressed.

The PKK has been waging war against the Turkish state since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Don't abandon the Syrian opposition

In July, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Al Jazeera that the Turkish government had a foreign policy of normalisation, part of Erdogan's vision of peace.

The region is today in a climate of search for peace and stability, said Mr. Fidan. The spirit of our times pushes us to seek peace and stability.

He stressed, however, that this policy did not mean that the Syrian opposition would be abandoned.

“We are not changing our position towards the Syrian opposition. The Syrian opposition's relations with the regime are based on its own decision, its own choice,” Fidan said before stressing that opposition fighters fought alongside Turkish troops to protect Turkey's security.

There is no way we can forget this sacrifice. There is no way we can forget these sacrifices and let them go, Fidan added.

But in Turkey, rising anti-Syrian sentiment continues, putting the Turkish government in a difficult position.

Turkey is home to 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees, the largest number in the world.

While Erdogan continues to support the principle of welcoming Syrians, their future regularly comes up in Turkish political debates, with some opponents of Erdogan promising to send them back to Syria.