By Mehmet Perinçek
Recently, the long-awaited and necessary developments in Türkiye-Syria relations have begun to surface. The announcements made in Ankara and Damascus are promising.
However, for these positive signals to materialize and lead to concrete results, there are some critical points that need to be addressed.
The aim: Strategic cooperation
Firstly, the aim in Türkiye-Syria relations should not merely be normalization but rather strategic cooperation. There are no areas where the objective interests of the two countries do not overlap. Resolving issues that are of vital importance to both countries needs this strategic cooperation.
Therefore, this strategic cooperation is not an option but a necessity.
Immediate steps without preconditions
Secondly, immediate and concrete steps must be taken without setting preconditions. There is no time to lose, even the time already lost must be compensated for. Strategic cooperation with Syria should be Türkiye’s primary agenda. Most importantly, this should not be used as a bargaining chip with the West.
Eastern Euphrates and Idlib: A single front
Thirdly and in fact most importantly, the indispensable of this cooperation and the very basis for any further steps: ensuring Syria’s territorial integrity. Undoubtedly, Syria’s territorial integrity directly translates to Türkiye’s territorial integrity.
Another point to emphasize is that “territorial integrity” must not remain mere as a discourse, but must be fully implemented!
There are two elements disrupting Syria’s territorial integrity, and consequently threatening Türkiye: the PKK/PYD’s separatist terrorism in the east of the Euphrates and the bigot terror hub in Idlib. Undoubtedly, the US stands behind both. Despite these two appearing to be at odds, their fates are one and the same.
Without eliminating these two together, we cannot go further to secure the territorial integrity of Syria and Türkiye. No party should see one of these terrorist organizations “better” or “less damaging” than the other. Türkiye and Damascus must declare a common will to integrate the east of the Euphrates and Idlib into Syria’s territorial integrity, that is to say, to establish Damascus’ authority in these regions, which then must be followed by swift and concrete actions accordingly.
Brothers in arms
We should know that without resolving the Idlib issue, there would be no solution for the east of the Euphrates too. Ignoring Idlib or postponing its resolution, we cannot convert this positive atmosphere into concrete actions.
To put it in one sentence: The east of the Euphrates and Idlib are a single front, and the Turkish Army and the Syrian Army are brothers in arms on these both fronts.