Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hailed Ahmed al-Sharaa for his “strong commitment” to fighting terror as the newly installed interim president made his first official visit to Turkey.
“I would like to express our satisfaction for the strong commitment my brother Ahmed al-Sharaa has shown in the fight against terrorism,” he said at a joint news conference after the pair held talks in Ankara.
Turkey has repeatedly offered operational and military support to help Sharaa’s new government fight against militant groups still operational in war-torn Syria.
Erdogan has repeatedly called for action to root out Islamic State (IS) group militants as well as Kurdish militants based in northeastern Syria whom Turkey sees as a strategic threat over their ties to its domestic nemesis, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“I told (Sharaa) we are ready to provide the necessary support to Syria in the fight against all kinds of terrorism, whether it be Daesh or the PKK,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
He also reiterated Turkey’s offer to help run prisons holding IS fighters in northeastern Syria, which are currently run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“We stand with them in the context of controlling the camps in northeastern Syria,” Erdogan said.
The SDF is seen by many in the West as crucial to keeping the jihadists at bay, but Turkey views it as a terrorist outfit and has threatened military action against it if it does not disband.Â
Additionally, before being bogged down fighting pro-Assad forces, Syrian rebels had previously proven themselves adept at fighting IS. With Turkey bolstering the new Syrian state, analysts believe that it will be more than capable of dealing with IS remnants in a manner that the previous regime never was.
“For the safety of our countries and our region, we have no other option than to join forces towards the same goal,” Erdogan added.
Meanwhile, on the same day as al-Sharaa’s visit to Turkey, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat announced that his country would begin talks with Syrian officials to reactivate the free trade agreement between the two countries. This came during a speech he delivered at the Turkish and Syrian Businessmen Forum, which was held for one day in the southern Turkish province of Gaziantep.
Erdogan’s office told Reuters that it would discuss with al-Sharaa “possible joint measures to rebuild Syria’s economy”, as well developing the country’s civil infrastructure to better help the war-torn country emerge out of its transitional phase.
Al-Sharaa said in an interview with Syria TV on Monday that it will take four to five years to hold presidential elections, citing the need to rebuild the economy and the infrastructure necessary for holding viable national elections.Â
(Agencies contributed to this report)
