Voices are raised in the US against the Turkey-Syria rapprochement: They sent a letter to Biden
The recent process of rapprochement of the Bashar Assad administration in Syria with several countries, including Turkey, has raised voices in the United States.
The meeting of the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar and the Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Hakan Fidan with their Syrian counterparts in Moscow in December was the first official contact after 11 years on the Ankara-Damascus line. A new round of talks between the two countries, mediated by Russia and Iran, is scheduled for April.
On the other hand, the Assad administration has been taking steps to normalize with a number of countries with which relations were severed during the war in Syria. The Syrian leader’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of his official visit last week was closely watched by the Middle Eastern public.
‘STEP’ CALLED BIDEN
In the United States, which strongly opposed the rapprochement process with the Assad administration, there was a notable development in this regard. Senior officials from previous US administrations sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling for “action to be taken against countries’ attempts to normalize with Syria.”
The letter urged the US administration to take more decisive action to “hold Assad accountable for his crimes” and address failed US policies. Among the signatories to the letter, which called on the US to take more initiative to help Syria and advance the political process, names such as former CIA director John McLaughlin, the former US representative in Syria James Jeffrey and retired military commander Anthony Zinni played important roles in shaping the country’s Syria policy.
USA: WE ARE AGAINST NORMALIZATION WITH SYRIA
Among the countries where the Damascus administration has taken steps to normalize relations recently include Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Saudi Arabia, which was once a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition.
Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the US State Department, previously stated that they were against Turkey and other countries normalizing relations with Syria, saying: “The US does not aim to strengthen diplomatic relations with the Assad regime and we do not support other countries to normalize relations.”
Expressing that the United States does not intend to lift sanctions against Syria, Patel said: “We urge governments to think very carefully about the crimes committed by the Assad regime against the Syrian people in the last 10 years.”