Did Türkiye influence Russia and Iran as the Syrian opposition advanced?

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had urged Russia and Iran not to intervene militarily to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces as the opposition advanced on Damascus.

"The most important thing is to talk to Russia and Iran to make sure they do not participate in that military war. We had a meeting and they understood," Foreign Minister Fidan told Turkey's private NTV television on December 13, according to AFP.

Mr Fidan also said that if Moscow and Tehran, both key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, had supported Mr al-Assad, the opposition could still have won but the result could have been more deadly.

Turkey persuades Russia, Iran to stop intervening to help al-Assad government fight opposition?

Mr Fidan stressed that Türkiye's goal is to "hold focused negotiations with these two important powers to ensure that casualties are minimized".

When the opposition military coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) first launched its offensive on November 27, Moscow and Tehran initially offered military support to Mr. al-Assad to stop the offensive. But the scale of al-Assad’s collapse took them by surprise.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a press conference in the Turkish capital Ankara on December 13.

The incident came at a time when both Russia and Iran were facing their own problems: Russia was preoccupied with its military campaign in Ukraine and Iranian-backed forces, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, were under heavy attack from Israel.

Foreign Minister Fidan said both Moscow and Tehran quickly realised that the game was up and that Mr al-Assad was “no longer someone to invest in”.

Türkiye has expressed support for the opposition, with experts saying Ankara even gave the green light to the HTS offensive without directly participating, according to Reuters.

Many countries, especially in the region, have expressed concerns about HTS, which originated from al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate and is considered a terrorist organization by many Western governments.

However, Mr Fidan said it was “completely normal” to have such concerns about HTS and that these concerns “need to be addressed”.

"No one understands them better than us, we want a Syria without terrorism, without posing a threat to countries in the region," Mr. Fidan emphasized.

Since 2016, Türkiye has had significant influence in northwestern Syria, maintaining a working relationship with HTS, which controls most of Idlib province, the last stronghold of the Syrian opposition.

Through open communication channels with HTS, Türkiye has conveyed such concerns directly to the group, according to Fidan.

"We reflect our friends' concerns to them and make sure they take steps. They've made a lot of announcements and people see that they're on the right track," he said.

Foreign Minister Fidan stressed that Ankara's message to the new government in Damascus was: "This is what Turkey expects after standing side by side with you for many years. And this is what the world expects."

There is currently no information about the reaction of Moscow, Tehran, or HTS to Mr. Fidan's statement.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tho-nhi-ky-da-tac-dong-nga-iran-luc-phe-doi-lap-syria-tien-quan-18524121409393654.htm