Turkey's Fidan calls for internationally backed 'inclusive' Syrian government

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that Syria’s new government must be “inclusive” to all parties.

“The new government body should be inclusive of all parties,” he said, speaking at Qatar’s Doha Forum conference. “Opposition groups should be united now.”

Fidan’s comments were made hours after Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces. Turkey has verbally backed the rebel offensive that suddenly toppled the Syrian government.

A few days before the rebels’ capture of Damascus, Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan said: “Our hope is that this march in Syria proceeds without any accidents or troubles.”

As the rebel victory is confirmed, Fidan used his time in Doha to urge the international community to support Syrians.

“As of this morning, Syria has reached a stage where the Syrian people will shape the future of their own country,” he said. “Today, there is hope. The Syrian people cannot achieve this alone. The international community must support the Syrian people.”

“Turkey attaches great importance to the national unity, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Syria, and the wellbeing of the Syrian people,” he added.

Turkey did not directly intervene in the rebel offensive that toppled Assad, but its allies, particularly the Syrian National Army (SNA) rebel coalition, played a major role in the offensive, while currently focusing on fighting Kurdish-led forces in Syria’s northeast.

Fidan made a brief mention of Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in his speech, saying his country is communicating with Syria’s various groups “to make sure that terrorist organisations, especially [the Islamic State group] and PKK, are not taking advantage of the situation”.

He had previously met with his Russian and Iranian counterparts on Saturday, hours before the fall of Damascus.

While Russia and Iran were some of Assad’s greatest military supporters during the war, Turkey collaborated with them in the so-called Astana peace process aimed at ending Syria’s war.

On Sunday, Fidan mentioned his country’s deliberations with regional and international actors to continue following up on the Syrian situation.

“With this understanding, we will continue to support efforts to establish stability and security in Syria,” he said.