ANKARA – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope on Friday that Syrian rebels would continue to advance against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria, but expressed concern about what he said were terrorist organizations in their midst.
Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers that he was closely monitoring the attack, which he said was headed for the Syrian capital. But he indicated he had mixed feelings, given some of the forces involved.
“The goal is Damascus,” he said. “I would say that we hope that this process will continue without problems.
“However, while this resistance against terrorist organizations continues, we have called Assad,” he added, referring to his approaches to Assad earlier this year to meet and normalize relations after more than a decade of animosity.
“These problematic developments that continue in the region as a whole are not what we wish, our heart does not wish. Unfortunately, the region is on the back foot,” he said without elaborating.
Erdogan’s comments underscored the complex makeup of the rebel forces fighting Assad and the mixed allegiances among actors on the ground, including Turkey.
Ankara has for years supported Syrian opposition forces seeking to oust Iran- and Russia-backed Assad, but also considers some regional players terrorists, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Islamist al-Qaeda affiliate that is part of the rebel force.
Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday, a major victory in a week-long blitzkrieg across northern Syria and another devastating blow to Assad.
Turkey said it was not taking part in the operation and that it had not provided any support to the rebels.
She has repeatedly said that Assad must engage in talks with the Syrian people about a political solution and that Ankara does not want to see a new wave of migrants fleeing the violence.
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia will meet in Doha on Saturday as part of the Astana process, which aims to find a political solution to the 13-year-old Syrian conflict.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren Butler and Andrew Heavens)