The US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken traveled to Aqaba in Jordan and Ankara in Turkey on Thursday and Friday in an effort to ensure a unified approach from Middle East leaders to support a peaceful political transition in Syria. This was his 12th trip to the region since Israel’s war against Hamas began last year but the first since Syrian President Bashar Assad was deposed.
On Dec. 12 he met in Jordan with King Abdullah and senior government officials, where he focused on continuing the strategic partnership with the kingdom. Blinken underlined the US intention to provide support to safeguard the stability of Syria’s neighbors as Syria hopefully transitions to an accountable and representative government after the fall of Assad.
Blinken told reporters as he prepared to move on to Turkey that “any new Syrian government should be inclusive and non-sectarian. It’s got to uphold and protect the rights of all Syrians, including minorities, including women.”
He said that those principles were “critical to unlocking international recognition, the international support that Syria very much needs after decades of dictatorship, conflict, corruption, isolation.”
He then headed to the Turkish capital where he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan for more than an hour in the VIP lounge of Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport, where he was assured that Turkey would continue the fight against Islamist State terrorist groups in Syria. Blinken is believed to have sought assurances that Turkey would not target the US-backed mainly Kurdish “Syrian Defense Forces” (SDF) groups that Washington feels will be key to controlling Islamist extremists.
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It was not clear how Erdogan responded as Ankara views the SDF as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that has been responsible for a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. Turkish backed Syrian forces had carried out several attacks on SDF forces following Assad’s removal but the SDF said on Tuesday it had reached a ceasefire deal brokered by the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with fighters backed by Turkey.
The two also discussed an urgent need for there to be a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that secures the release of hostages and that allows an upturn in humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians.
On Friday morning Blinken had his second meeting with Hakan Fidan, in which Syria and Gaza were again high on the agenda. Of concern to both sides was Israel’s response to the collapse of the Assad government, which included dozens of air strikes against Syrian military and weapons production sites in southern Syria and an extension of the “buffer zone” in the Golan Heights. They were also concerned about how any power vacuum might be capitalized on by extremists
Blinken said after the meeting that there were “encouraging signs” that Turkey was using its influence to encourage Hamas to accept a ceasefire in Gaza, while in turn Washington was in contact with the Israelis to try to agree an acceptable way ahead.
Unidentified sources report that another area Blinken discussed with Ankara was a request for Turkey to use the leverage it has with the main opposition forces to secure access to Syrian weapons and ammunition arsenals – both to prevent them falling into the “wrong hands” and as potential transfers to Ukraine which continues to suffer from equipment shortages
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) estimate that Syrian armories could hold as much one million 152mm and 122mm artillery rounds, 4,000 Russian main battle tanks including T-72 and T-90, and over 2,000 various armored vehicles – which would provide a tremendous boost to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in its struggle against renewed Russian offensives in the south and east of the country.
Later on Friday, Blinken is expected to return to Jordan for further meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.
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