After friday prayers Tayyip Erdogan spoke about syrian rebels progress: their push towards Damascus brings both hope and worry. The turkish leader expressed his thoughts on the situation which has many-sided nature (with some groups being problematic for Turkey)
“The target is Damascus‚“ Erdogan stated‚ showing careful support: “I would say we hope for this advance to continue without any issues.“ However his position changed tone when discussing certain armed groups in the area; earlier this fall he tried reaching out to Assad for talks
The rebels scored a big win by taking Hama city last week - a fast-moving operation that shook up northern syria. Turkeyʼs government says it didnt help the rebels‚ staying hands-off in this push. The situation has several layers of complexity with different groups fighting including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which Turkey sees as not-friendly
The 14-year long syria problem needs talking between Assad and his people; Turkey doesnt want more refugees running from fights. A meeting in Doha will happen tomorrow bringing together:
- Turkish officials
- Iranian representatives
- Russian diplomats
This talk is part of the long-running Astana meetings that try to find ways to end syriaʼs problems