Erdoğan ally to hold meeting with Assad in Damascus

Duvar English

Turkey's Homeland Party (Vatan Party) leader Doğu Perinçek, an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has announced that he will travel to Syria with a delegation and hold a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

In an interview with journalist İsmail Saymaz from Halk TV, Perinçek said: “Ending terrorism and the safe return of guests in Turkey [Syrian refugees] is what is essential. Syria is forgiving them anyway. We will ensure full safety. They will easily go back to their business. Nothing will happen to them.”

Asked if it was the Syrian regime that invited him, Periçek said: “They have been inviting us for the last seven-eight months. Our party also held meetings with Russia. Ethem Sancak, Şule ve Mehmet Perinçek held meetings in Moscow. We have been in contact with Iran. We have been also in contact with the Turkish state. We will hold these meetings with the plans of clearing terror in Syria, the maintenance of the territorial unity of Syria and the establishment of conditions for the return of Syrian guests to their homeland.”

Perinçek said that the Turkish government was notified about the meeting, but that his party was “not under their control and management.” “But since this is an issue of our state and nation, we are notifying them,” he said.

He said that he and the delegation, consisting of also businessman Ethem Sancak who has close ties to Erdoğan, will most likely fly to the Damascus Airport in a couple of weeks.

'Assad has five demands from Erdoğan'

Meanwhile, Turkey's pro-government newspaper Türkiye has alleged that Assad has five demands from Ankara, and that the Turkish government requires the Syrian regime to “completely clear” the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from its lands and to enure the safe return of Syrian refugees.

According to the newspaper, the Syrian regime's demands are: the transfer of Idlib's control to Damascus, the transfer of Reyhanlı-Cilvegözü border gate and Kesep border gate, trade corridor between Cilvegözü and Damascus, the control the M4 highway between Deir ez-Zor and Haseke, and Turkey's support with regards to the issue of Europe and U.S.' sanctions against the Syrian regime.