Syrian, Turkish officials to meet in Baghdad soon

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A government source revealed on Wednesday that Iraq’s efforts to reconcile Syria and Turkey led to a meeting that will bring officials from Damascus and Ankara together in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, soon.

The source told Shafaq News that Syrian and Turkish officials will sit at the dialogue table as part of the Iraqi mediation that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is working on to reconcile the two countries.

Al-Sudani and his team have reached positive results with this mediation through unannounced communications and bilateral meetings, according to the source, who added that both Damascus and Ankara are welcoming Baghdad’s mediation.

Since the start of the Arab Spring in 2010, when large-scale protests in Syria demanded a change in the regime, Turkey has shown support for the demonstration in Syria when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was Prime Minister.

Amidst the protestors’ casualties, which brought the total number of victims killed in Syria to almost 100,000, the situation worsened in 2013 when Erdogan threatened Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The speed of the conflicts between the two countries accelerated and peaked between 2016 and 2020, when the Turkish army conducted four ground combat operations in Syria.

All attempts to find a solution between Damascus and Ankara by several regional parties were unsuccessful. But the first phase, which is getting the two sides to the negotiation table, appears to have been accomplished by the Iraqi government’s efforts.