Türkiye: We asked Russia and Iran not to support Assad’s forces!
According to the Times of Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has called on Iran and Russia not to support the forces of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as anti-government rebels and terrorist groups advance rapidly towards Damascus!
Fidan told private broadcaster NTV: “The most important issue was to negotiate with the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they do not enter the equation militarily. We had meetings with them and they understood this.”
According to the senior Turkish diplomat, if Moscow and Tehran, both of whom have been Assad’s main allies since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, had come to his aid, there would still be a chance that the rebels would have won, but in that case, the outcome would have been far more violent.
He claimed: “If Assad had been supported, the opposition could still have won with their will, but it would have taken a long time and it could have been bloody.” Turkey’s goal was to focus on negotiations with two powerful and important actors and ensure that casualties were kept to a minimum.
Fidan also went on to claim: “They quickly realized that the game was up and that Assad was no longer someone to invest in and that this was pointless.”