Bouthaina Shaaban, a special advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government of abusing efforts at normalization with Syria for domestic political gain while ruling out the prospects of any reconciliation without the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory, according to The Levant News, based in London.
Her remarks came during a speech at the Omani Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. Shaaban claimed that President Erdoğan’s previous statements about his desire for rapprochement with Damascus following years of tension were merely a political maneuver for purely “electoral purposes.”
Turkey and Syria severed diplomatic relations in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian war — but Erdoğan, who then supported rebel efforts to topple the all-powerful President Assad, has sought rapprochement with Damascus in recent months.
“There is nothing the Turks want to offer. They want to maintain what they are doing on the ground, occupy our land and spread corruption in it, strike the Kurds, and expect us to be friends with them. This is not acceptable,” she said.
Shaaban directed accusations at Turkey, saying it “occupies part of northwestern Syria and is carrying out dangerous and malicious Turkification operations.” She said al-Assad had previously demanded Turkey “acknowledge the principle of withdrawal,” emphasizing that the Syrian regime will not sit at the negotiating table unless Ankara acknowledges this principle.
Shabaan’s remarks came shortly after Erdoğan said over the weekend that he is waiting for a response from al-Assad regarding efforts to improve relations between the two countries.
Turkish forces and Turkey-backed rebel factions control swaths of northern Syria, and Turkey has taken in 3.2 million refugees from the war-torn country, according to UN data.
The Syrian conflict, which began after the suppression of anti-government protests in 2011, has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.