Turkey’s defense chief: Syria wants timetable for troop withdrawal to resume talks

ANKARA — Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said Wednesday that the Syrian government is asking for a timetable for the Turkish military’s withdrawal from Syria before resumption of reconciliation talks with Turkey.

Turkey seeks to resume the reconciliation talks between high-level Turkish and Syrian government officials, according to statements from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish government officials, but the Syrian side has stopped short of providing a clear public response. 

Speaking to Turkish media on Wednesday, Guler said the Syrian regime is conditioning the resumption of the talks on a timetable for Turkish troops’ withdrawal. "Now the Syrian regime [says], 'If you relay us the withdrawal date, we can meet,'" Guler told Turkey’s private Haberturk television, adding that Ankara "perceives" such a response as an unwillingness for "return to peace."

Ankara has given a fresh push to the reconciliation efforts recently, as it seeks Damascus’ cooperation against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that control vast areas in northern and eastern Syria. Ankara deems the US-allied SDF as a top national security threat over its ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been waging an armed campaign against Turkey for Kurdish self-rule inside the country since the 1980s.