Syria's foreign minister said today, that there should be dialogue between Syria and Turkey only after Ankara announced that it would withdraw its troops from all the Syrian territories it controls, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Faisal Mekdad said this during a joint press conference with Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, after Turkey threatened in recent days to take action against the Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria, which are preparing to hold municipal elections. election next week.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations in Syria and controls some territories in the north of the country. Ankara has been a major supporter of Syrian opposition fighters who have been trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the conflict began in March 2011.
Reconciliation efforts between Syria and Turkey have failed to make progress since early 2023, despite meetings in Moscow between the countries' foreign and defense ministers.
"The main condition for any Syrian-Turkish dialogue is that Ankara declares its readiness to withdraw from our occupied lands," Mekdad said. "We do not negotiate with those who occupy our lands," he added.
Bagheri said that Tehran has always supported the territorial integrity of all countries in the region, especially Syria.
"We support and will continue to support Syria in its fight against terrorism," he said, referring to Syrian rebel groups that Damascus and Tehran consider terrorist organizations.
Iran and Russia, Assad's main backers involved in the Syrian conflict that has killed half a million people, have tried to mediate between Turkey and Syria in the past. With their help, over the years, the Syrian government forces took control of most parts of Syria, the agency reminds.
Regarding Turkey's support for Syrian rebel groups in the north of the country, Mekdad said: "It is not permissible for the Turkish occupation of Syrian lands to continue supporting terrorist organizations in northern Syria.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would not hesitate to take action against Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria, which it accuses of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), if they go ahead with plans to holding local elections in the area on June 11.
Pro-government Syrian media reported that Bagheri met earlier today at the Iranian embassy in Damascus with leaders of Syrian-based Palestinian factions.
In Lebanon "Hezbollah" announced that its leader Hassan Nasrallah met with Ali Bagheri and they discussed the situation in Gaza and along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Bagheri was in Lebanon before going to Syria.
In front of reporters, the Iranian Acting minister indicated that he was in Syria to discuss "an immediate end to the Zionist crimes in (the southern city of) Rafah and the delivery of urgent, immediate and unconditional aid to the oppressed residents of Gaza.