By Simon Lewis (JO:) and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AQABA, Jordan (Reuters) – Prime diplomats from the USA, Turkey, the European Union and Arab nations met in Jordan on Saturday for talks on Syria as regional and international powers scramble for affect over no matter authorities replaces ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has begun partaking with the victorious insurgent teams together with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led a lightning assault that ended within the seize of Damascus on Sunday.
Biden despatched Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the area this week to hunt help for rules that Washington hopes will information Syria’s political transition, comparable to respect for minorities.
In the meantime Syria’s northern neighbor Turkey has for years supported Syrian opposition forces trying to oust Assad and is poised to play an influential function in Damascus.
Turkish International Minister Hakan Fidan mentioned on Friday that his nation’s embassy within the Syrian capital would resume work on Saturday, after Turkey’s intelligence chief visited this week.
Syria’s neighbor Jordan was internet hosting Saturday’s gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who had been Assad’s key supporters, weren’t invited.
Blinken, U.N. Particular Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson and EU overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas, Fidan and overseas ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met round a round desk at a Jordanian authorities guesthouse. There was no Syrian consultant on the desk.
The Arab diplomats earlier met individually.
Blinken, assembly Pederson at his lodge earlier on Saturday, mentioned it was a time of “both opportunity but also real challenge” for Syria.
Arab diplomats attending the talks informed Reuters they had been searching for assurances from Turkey that it helps an inclusive political course of that forestalls partition of Syria on sectarian traces.
Turkey and the USA, each NATO members, have conflicting pursuits on the subject of among the rebels. Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The SDF, which controls a few of Syria’s largest oil fields, is the primary ally in a U.S. coalition in opposition to Islamic State militants. It’s spearheaded by YPG militia, a gaggle that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Employees Celebration (PKK) militants who’ve fought the Turkish state for 40 years and who it outlaws.
Blinken informed Turkish officers throughout a go to to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that Islamic State should not have the ability to regroup, and the SDF should not be distracted from its function of securing camps holding IS fighters, based on a U.S. official with the U.S. delegation. Turkish leaders agreed, the official mentioned.
Fidan informed Turkish TV afterward Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkey’s “strategic target” and urged the group’s commanders to depart Syria.
