‘We Paved the way’: Turkey negotiated fall of Assad with Russia, Iran, Turkish FM says

By Jerusalem Post staff

 The newly appointed Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a handover ceremony in Ankara, Turkey June 5, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/CAGLA GURDOGAN)

“We paved the way for this to be bloodless by continuing focused talks,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkish TV, discussing the non-intervention of Russia and Iran.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told local TV channel NTV on Friday that Turkey played a key role in making sure that Assad’s allies, Russia and Iran, did not intervene in the lighting offensive that toppled his regime on December 8.

Fidan discussed the developments in Syria with the channel. In particular, he described Turkey’s role in the development and training of Syria’s rebels and its eventual role in helping ensure the fall of Bashar Assad‘s regime.

Fidan was asked if the diplomats meeting in Doha during the collapse of the regime knew this was the end of the regime. He told them that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had worked to ensure that Russia or Iran did not intervene.

“The most vital issue that needed to be done was for the Russians not to enter the equation as a vital issue,” Fidan said. “The Iranian Foreign Minister came, and we got together with the Russians and Iranians in Doha and talked about certain issues.”

“If the regime had been supported, it could have been very bloody,” he continued, “The Russians and Iranians saw that there was no point in continuing this; after a certain point, they called, and Assad left that evening.

“We paved the way for this to be bloodless by continuing focused talks.”

 Officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, attend a meeting on the crisis in Syria in the framework of the Astana process on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Doha, Qatar, December 7, 2024. (credit: RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Preventing chaos

When asked whether the new rulers in Damascus will protect minority groups in Syria, Fidan said, “What they say and what they do coincide; they are on the right track.”

Ahmad al-Sharaa (al-Julani), the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Shams, the most prominent rebel group, has consistently emphasized that the new government will protect minorities. However, his past ties to Al Qaeda and ISIS have raised doubts.

Fidan assured NTV that Turkey was working to prevent the creation of a power vacuum in Syria, “This risk always exists, so we need to act constructively. We are very sensitive about this issue. The necessary diplomatic and intelligence steps need to be taken.”

Fidan also confirmed that the Turkish embassy in Damascus would be open and operational by Saturday.