A source from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) confirmed to al-Modon that Moscow hosted an intelligence-services meeting between Turkey and the Syrian regime, noting that “the security meeting, held a few days ago, dealt only with security and intelligence issues.”
Regarding the meeting in Moscow, the source referred to the Kremlin’s fears of the spillover of Ukraine’s repercussions into Syria, stressing that “Moscow is trying to rearrange the situation in Syria to ensure that there are no negative effects on the Syrian issue caused by Ukraine.”
It is known that the security meetings between Turkey and the Syrian regime did not stop, despite the political estrangement between the two sides since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011.
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The aim of the meeting was to abide by the understandings between Moscow and Ankara in Syria, the AKP source said. The source did not say who attended the meeting, but the meetings usually included the head of Turkey’s national intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, and the head of the Syrian security service, Ali Mamlouk.
The Russian news agency Sputnik quoted a Syrian officer participating in the meeting, Major Haidara Jawad, as saying that the two sides had agreed on several items in the interests of the two countries, including maintaining the unity of Syrian territory and not compromising it, and extending sovereignty over the entire Syrian territory.
The source pointed to the possibility of intelligence cooperation with Turkey to expel U.S. agents (SDF) from the east of the Euphrates in the next phase, and “bring the region back home.”
However, the Turkish source denied this, stating that the meeting did not address topics at this level, but rather topics related to security.
The source ruled out that Turkey now has intentions to launch a new military operation in Syria, referring to “the unstable situation in the Black Sea as a result of the war in Ukraine.” The source added: “Now is not the time for Turkey to open new fronts, despite Turkey’s suggestion.”
In early April, Turkish media revealed discussions in Ankara about starting a dialogue with the Syrian regime, saying that “the process that began to end the war in Ukraine would create a new opportunity in relations between Ankara and Damascus.” Syria denied this.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
