Turkey consolidates its position as a key ally of the new Syria

Syria's new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has chosen Turkey as the destination of his second international trip after visiting Saudi Arabia, where he sought support to finance the reconstruction of the country and revive its economy after 13 years of civil war.

In Ankara, Al-Sharaa — known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani — has focused more on the military and security sphere, announcing that Syria and Turkey were building a ‘joint strategy’ to confront threats to the security of both countries. 

‘We are addressing the threats that would prevent the unity of the Syrian lands in north-eastern Syria,’ declared Syria's current strongman, who was once the leader of the country's al-Qaeda branch. During the meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Al-Sharaa also emphasised ‘the need for international pressure on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone in southern Syria’. 

Likewise, Al-Sharaa emphasised that economic partnership was a key item on the meeting's agenda. ‘We will improve trade and investment between the two countries with the aim of achieving economic recovery and establishing a better future,’ he said.

For his part, Erdogan said that during the meeting they analysed ‘the joint steps that could be taken to establish security and economic stability in the country’. Turkey, he said, is ‘ready to provide the necessary support to Syria in the fight against all forms of terrorism, whether it be Daesh or the PKK’. ‘We have no choice but to join forces towards the same goal: the security of our countries and our region,’ Erdogan said.

Turkey, which shares a 910-kilometre border with Syria, considers the Syrian Kurdish militias - which are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group allied to the United States - to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, classified as a terrorist organisation by Ankara. 

With the aim of dismantling these forces, Turkey has been supporting Syrian rebel groups fighting against the SDF in northern Syria for years. 

Similarly, Ankara has also maintained links with the rebels led by Al-Sharaa for years, playing a crucial role in strengthening the Islamist-led insurgents who finally overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad last December after decades in power. 

Since then, Turkey has backed the new administration, providing operational and military support in the fight against ‘terrorist groups’. In this sense, it has repeatedly called for measures to be taken to eradicate both Daesh terrorists and Kurdish SDF fighters.

However, many Western countries consider the SDF to be essential in stopping the jihadists, as they played a key role in defeating Daesh in the country and are currently responsible for controlling and administering prisons and refugee camps with members of the terrorist group.