Fikret Bila – ANKARA
Turkey
and Russia have moved to build a new mechanism
between the two countries on Syria after acting to soothe strained relations at
a summit in St. Petersburg, announcing plans to hold their first Syria-related
meeting on Aug. 11.
“We said we would send [Russia] a tripartite
committee featuring an intelligence [officer], soldier and a diplomat, and
in response to this tripartite committee, you will name your counterparts and
they will conduct intense work,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a group of journalists on Aug. 9
aboard his presidential plane while traveling from St. Petersburg to Ankara after meeting Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
After Erdoğan delivered a letter to Putin in which
he stated his regrets over the downing of the jet, an initiative was launched
to restore the countries’ strained relations.
Erdoğan said the Turkish tripartite committee was
scheduled to set off for Russia on Aug. 10 and would hold its first
meetings on Aug. 11.
“Accordingly, these friends of ours will bring the
infrastructure of the Syria process to a level,” said Erdoğan, adding that one
of the topics to be discussed was the humanitarian aid to access Syria’s second
city of Aleppo, where fierce fighting is continuing.
“There will be a second move after Moscow. The
perspective and width of this move will be formed after the [initial
meetings],” he added.
Hours after Erdoğan’s remarks, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed the new mechanism to be composed of the
intelligence services, foreign ministries and militaries of the two parties.
“[This is] the first concrete step [between Turkey
and Russia]: Previously, there were different mechanisms between us on Syria,
between the militaries, foreign ministries and intelligence services. Now, we
[will] establish a threefold mechanism,” Çavuşoğlu told the state-run Anadolu
Agency on Aug. 10.
Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
chief Hakan Fidan and representatives from the Foreign Ministry and Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK) will depart for Russia late on Aug. 10 for the meeting in
St. Petersburg, he added.
Direct military line established
“We have agreed to be in close contact in order to
avoid such incidents. In this frame, our Chief of General Staff and the Russian chief of general staff have
re-established a direct line. They are in talks on this,” İbrahim Kalın, the
spokesman for Erdoğan, told the private broadcaster A Haber on Aug. 10.
“I don’t know whether this line is a red or a
black line. They are in close contact on Syria, bilateral relations and
regional issues as well as air space,” he said.
‘We are on the same page on a cease-fire in Syria’
Although Turkey and Russia have different views on Syria, they
are on the same page regarding the declaration of a cease-fire, providing
humanitarian aid and finding a political solution, Çavuşoğlu said.
“There could be other thoughts on how to reach a
cease-fire. We are particularly rejecting attacks against civilians. We also do
not approve attacks on moderate opposition but on terror organizations. We also
do not approve the siege of Aleppo,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Recalling that Russia and the Syrian regime had carried out
bombings on places where civilians and the moderate opposition were the
majority, he said: “We made our warnings to Russia on this. Especially, al-Nusra and the
moderate opposition should be distinguished in places where they are closely
located.”
Turkey’s top diplomat underlined the country
regarded radicalization in Syria as dangerous, as in the rest of the world,
recalling that talks with Russian authorities would focus on the need
to distinguish moderate groups from terrorists.
Exchange of information on Syria
Turkish authorities will inform their Russian counterparts about the locations of
civilians and moderate opposition groups and will request it to first focus on
the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, he
stated.
The problem in Syria cannot be resolved solely by
the efforts of Turkey and Russia, he added, calling for straight talks for the
accomplishment of a political transition period.
Not alternative to West
Çavuşoğlu also underlined that Turkey’s
reconciliation with Russia should not be read as a message to
the West. “We are doing it for our interests, for regional interests. We are
actually issuing our messages to the West in a clear way,” he said.
“Many of them [European countries] have shown
whether they are our true friends or not after the coup attempt. The future of
our ties with the EU and Western countries will not have an effect on our
future ties with Russia. Or vice versa,” he said.
Çavuşoğlu said Turkey had been facing political
obstacles from the EU over the last 15 years. “If the West loses Turkey one
day, it will not be because of Turkey’s good ties with Russia, China, Central
Asian or Islamic countries but because of [the West’s] mistakes.”
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