Turkish diplomatic sources said on Sunday that consultation talks would be held on Monday with United Kingdom representatives in Ankara.
The talks will be led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz and Hamish Falconer, the U.K. minister for the Middle East. The consultations will focus on Syria and other regional issues on the shared agenda.
Yılmaz is expected to convey Türkiye's views and expectations regarding Syria’s security, stability and economic situation. Discussions are expected to emphasize the importance of international support for steps taken by the Syrian administration toward national reconciliation within a central government framework. The necessity of lifting all sanctions unconditionally to facilitate Syria’s reconstruction and economic development will also be highlighted.
Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has called repeatedly for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed to isolate ousted Bashar Assad for his brutal crackdown during Syria's long civil war, which started in 2011, and to generate pressure for a political solution to the conflict.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said the government had succeeded in suspending or easing some sanctions. Syrian officials have said the sanctions have ceased to be justified since Assad was toppled. Last month, European Union countries suspended a range of sanctions against Syria immediately, including restrictions related to energy, banking, transport and reconstruction.
Türkiye-U.K. talks will also stress that there is no place for terrorism in Syria’s future and will focus on the need to halt Israel’s actions that openly violate and threaten Syria’s sovereignty. Syria's national dialogue conference, held last month in Damascus, declared that all armed groups operating outside the country's military are considered "outlawed," an implicit reference to the YPG, the U.S.-backed offshoot of the PKK terrorist group and other factions that have refused to lay down their arms since Bashar Assad’s toppling. The statement said that attendees called for "a monopoly on weapons by the state, building a professional national army and regarding any armed formations outside the official institutions as outlawed groups."
Swathes of northern and northeastern Syria are occupied by the YPG, which the United States sees as its primary partner in the fight against Daesh in Syria. The YPG is affiliated with the PKK, which has waged a terror campaign against Türkiye since 1984. Ankara sees the presence of the PKK/YPG near its border as a direct threat to its national security and has long urged Washington to withdraw support for the YPG/PKK. The Syrian National Army (SNA) of the former opposition has fought the PKK/YPG in northern Syria since Assad’s ouster on Dec. 8, managing to take back two key towns from the group. Clashes continue largely around Tishrin Dam near Manbij, which the terrorist group still holds. Syria's new authorities, who are close to Ankara, have urged all armed groups, including the YPG, to hand over their weapons and rejected any autonomy for the group.
Türkiye also laments Israel's incursion into Syria after the fall of Assad and says the Netanyahu administration exploited the current situation in Syria to continue the pursuit of its ambitious regional expansionism.
After the fall of the Assad regime, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. It also intensified airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.
Israel's recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the U.N. and several Arab nations.
