Ankara urges Assad regime to reconcile with opposition for peace in Syria

The Turkish top diplomat has urged the Assad regime to reconcile with the opposition groups to reinstate peace and stability in Syria amid continued advances of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied factions which now control the country's second largest city, Aleppo.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Ankara on Dec. 2 to discuss the recent escalation in Syria. Araghchi came to Türkiye from Syria where he expressed his country's firm support to the Assad regime.

"Recent developments once again show Syrian regime must reconcile with its own people and legitimate opposition. Türkiye is ready to contribute to this end," Fidan said at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart.

The minister explained that the reason for the recent escalation has stemmed from the Damascus' unwillingness to sit around the same table with the opposition groups and resolve the problems of Syria.

"Therefore, it would be a wrong assessment to blame foreign interventions as the reason of the current problem," Fidan said, in an indirect response to his Iranian counterpart who accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the recent attacks against Damascus.

Recalling that the Astana Process led by Türkiye, Russia and Iran have resulted in a creation of de-escalation in the northern Syria but Damascus has rejected to benefit from this relative calmness through talks with the opposition groups, Fidan said, underlining once again the need for a political solution to the problems of this country which is in a civil war since 2011.

The Turkish minister explained that Türkiye was aware that the status quo was not sustainable and was urging all the parties for the resumption of talks in...