TURKEY-SYRIA ISTANBUL MEETING A SUCCESS

 Written by Michael Thervil

TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN (RIGHT)-SYRIAN INTERIM PRESIDENT AL SHARAA (LEFT) ISTANBUL MEETING PHOTO BY AFP

[Turkey Syria Istanbul meeting] – Türkiye: Syria's Interim President Al Sharaa met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye to speak about Türkiye's key role in Syria. This meeting comes on the heels of Al Sharaa’s meeting with President Trump just days before in Saudi Arabia. According to sources this newest meeting between both Presidents occurred at the Dolmaahce working office. In attendance were other heads of state from Türkiye such as Turkish National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Turkish Foreign Minister  Hakan Fidan, and Head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organizations (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin. The Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Hassan Seybani also accompanied Interim President Al Sahraa on this trip as well.

This meeting touched on a number of key and strategic topics which included strengthening ties between the two nations in the energy sector. Increasing Türkiye's economic and investment presence in Syria, the incorporation of Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters into the Syrian Security Forces, as well as the talk of American sanctions being fully lifted or at least partially lifted. Although the full list of topics discuss have intentionally not been released to the Press, it was stated the topics of concerns that were addressed dealt with fully integrating the SDF into the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the unification and consolidation of both civilian and military institutions in southern and northern Syria into the hands of the Syrian government, having Syria control the border crossing of oil and gas in Damascus, a nationwide ceasefire, and lastly a rejection of ethnic/sectarian based federalism.

Another item on the table that was discussed was there must be a trilateral cooperation agreement between Iraq, Syria, and Türkiye to address the ISIS detainee camp in northeast Syria. It was also stated that Syria must take back control of all of its prisons as well. Türkiye's President Erdoğan took positive reception of America lifting its sanction on Syria but also stood fast on his position that Israel's illegal occupation of southern Syrian territory is unacceptable and that Türkiye would take a stand against Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights at every opportunity it gets. With America lifting its first round of sanction on Friday which included a 180-suspension of what is known as the “Caesar Act”, it was reported that the EU followed in America footsteps. The Caesar Act  also known as the Caesar Syria civilian protection act of 2019 that was sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel  [D-NY-16] who’s always taken a hawkish stance on Syria.

Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act states that if the U.S. The Dept. of  Treasury makes the determination that the Central Bank of Syria is a money laundering operation, it would not only require additional monitoring of the Syrian Central Bank and all of its transactions, but it would impose sanctions on the people who participate in its money laundering scheme. The U.S. The Dept. of Treasury would also impose sanctions on Syria ‘s military, technology,  and petroleum productions, as well as the bearing of financial transactions and entry into the U.S. and the blocking of humanitarian aid into Syria. Again, this will be lifted for 180 days. The question of which countries or international business would be willing to invest in Syria for 180 days has been raised. This is a highly relevant question given America’s track record of not honoring and in some cases simply backing out of deals that it has pledged a commitment to in the past.

Whether America backs out or not, Türkiye is Syria to stay as they have a golden opportunity to rebuild the ottoman empire before the eyes of the world. Ottoman Empire 2.0 seems like a long feat that could very lead into defeat for Türkiye; but it's still worth a good try. The issue is how would Türkiye Erdrogan get all of the countries that made up the Ottoman Empire before on the same page in a modern world? The world is waiting for an answer to that question.