Turkey to work for Syrian migrants to return home safely, minister says

ANKARA – Turkey will work for the safe and voluntary return home of the Syrian migrants it hosts and will help in the reconstruction of Syria after President Bashar al-Assad’s sudden ouster by rebels, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday.

In one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations, rebels seized the Syrian capital Damascus and Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule.

Turkey, which said it gave no support and had no involvement in the offensive by the Syrian opposition forces it has backed for years against Assad, said on Sunday it wanted the new Syrian administration to be inclusive and for Syrians to determine their own future.

In an address to the Turkish Ambassadors’ Conference in Ankara, Fidan said Turkey was ready to provide support for Syria’s rebuilding and that it was coordinating with all “regional actors and parties”.

“In the coming period, we want a Syria where different ethnic and religious groups live in an inclusive understanding of governance and in peace. We want to see a new Syria that has ties with its neighbours, that adds peace and stability to its region,” he said.

“We will continue our work to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Syrians and for the country’s reconstruction,” Fidan said.

He added that Ankara would stand with Syrians in this “new phase” in Damascus but groups like Islamic State and Kurdistan Workers’ Party that Ankara regards as terrorist organisations must not benefit from the situation.

NATO member Turkey hosts some 3 million Syrian migrants and refugees, making it the biggest host of Syrians who have fled the civil war. It also controls swathes of land in northern Syria after several cross-border incursions against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara sees as an extension of the PKK.

Shares in Turkish construction and cement companies surged on Monday, buoyed by expectations that they will benefit from rebuilding in Syria.

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