Turkiye president Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the Syrian regime on Thursday to swiftly engage with its people and work toward an urgent political resolution to the country’s ongoing civil war. Türkiye, he emphasized, remains committed to de-escalating tensions and protecting civilians.
“The Syrian regime must urgently engage with its own people to achieve a comprehensive political solution,” Erdoğan said during a call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to a statement from the Communications Directorate.
Syria has reemerged as a focal point of global attention following the rapid advances of anti-regime forces across the country’s north. Last week, they captured Aleppo, a key commercial hub, from regime forces. On Thursday, they secured another major victory by taking the strategically important city of Hama, further weakening the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies.
These developments underline the urgency of political dialogue and conflict resolution, as the situation continues to evolve rapidly on the ground.
Erdoğan, whose country has become home to about three million Syrian refugees since the war started in 2011, has held a number of discussions with other leaders on the crisis in recent days.
Highlighting that the conflict has reached a "new stage," he told the U.N. chief that "Türkiye's biggest wish is that Syria does not become embroiled in bigger instability and see even more civilian victims."
Ankara has been actively working to de-escalate tensions, safeguard civilians, and facilitate a political resolution, with a commitment to maintaining these efforts.
A pivotal moment in the anti-regime forces' successes during last week's offensive was the capture of Aleppo, a city that, despite over a decade of war, had never fully slipped from regime control.
Russian aircraft are supporting Syrian regime forces as fierce clashes continue.
Guterres said he told Erdoğan of the "urgent need for immediate humanitarian access to all civilians in need and the return to the U.N. facilitated political process to end the bloodshed."
"All parties are obligated under international law to protect civilians," he told reporters on Thursday.
Guterres said the escalating conflict is the result of a "chronic collective failure" of diplomacy, as he called for an end to fighting.
"We are seeing the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements to produce a genuine nationwide cease-fire or a serious political process to implement Security Council resolutions," he said.
"After 14 years of conflict, it is high time for all parties to engage seriously with Geir Pedersen, my Special Envoy for Syria, to finally chart a new, inclusive and comprehensive approach to resolving this crisis in line with Security Council resolution 2254," Guterres said.
That resolution adopted by the Security Council in 2015 established a road map for a political transition in Syria.
"Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire," said Guterres.
Source: Daily Sabah
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
