Syria’s Assad agreed to meet with Turkey’s opposition leader: party official

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accepted a request from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel for a meeting in Damascus to discuss problems regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey, a party official has announced.

CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut told Halk TV during a program on Wednesday that Özel will travel to Damascus once the date and place of the meeting are set jointly with the Syrian regime.

Özel told Turkish media last week, following the eruption of anti-Syrian riots across several provinces in the country after mobs vandalized businesses and properties owned by Syrians, that he is hoping to have an official meeting with Assad in Damascus in July to address border security and refugee issues.

He said his party officials were trying to arrange an official meeting between the two in Damascus and that unofficial contact with Assad had already been made.

Turkey hosts approximately 3.2 million Syrian refugees, and xenophobic violence, often fueled by social media rumors, has erupted multiple times in recent years. The fate of these refugees remains a contentious political issue, with some opposition politicians making their repatriation an election promise.

Özel’s expectation for a meeting with Assad comes at a time when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is seeking to reconcile with the Syrian president with whom he had close relations that were cut off after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria.

Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the civil war, backing opposition groups seeking to overthrow Assad; however, the CHP has always supported keeping the channels of dialogue open despite opposition from Erdoğan.

Özel said if Erdoğan really wants to repair ties with Assad, he can try to convince the Syrian president to sit at the negotiating table with him.

He said the refugee problem in Turkey is a most pressing problem that requires an urgent solution in cooperation with the Syrian regime.

Although Turkey originally aimed to topple Assad’s regime when the Syrian conflict erupted with the violent suppression of peaceful protesters in 2011 and backed rebels calling for his ouster, Ankara has recently shifted focus to preventing what Erdoğan in 2019 called a “terror corridor” from opening up in northern Syria.

Erdoğan has long said he could reconsider ties with Assad as his government is working to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees.

The president said on Sunday that he might invite al-Assad to Turkey “at any moment.”