Turkey’s foreign minister says Ankara will not allow Syria to slip back into chaos

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, said on Wednesday that Ankara will not permit Syria to return to a state of chaos, stressing that developments in the country directly affect Turkey’s own security and stability, Anadolu agency reported.

Speaking at the opening of a conference organised by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) entitled “Syria After One Year: Recovery and Reconstruction”, Fidan said Syria “cannot be divided under the pretext of establishing a federal system, nor can its people be oppressed under the guise of achieving unity.”

He emphasised that Turkey “cannot tolerate Syria’s return to chaos,” adding that the turmoil in Iraq and Syria over the past three decades had imposed an “unbelievable and enormous cost” on Turkey.

Fidan also criticised Israel, saying it should not base its security on destabilising others. “The biggest problem in the region is that Israel sees Syria as an area for expansion,” he added.

The minister noted that Syria and Turkey had lived “side by side for centuries” under the Seljuk and Ottoman empires, and that these deep historical ties had been strained with the emergence of modern nation-states. He said that social, geographical and historical realities “cannot be changed,” and highlighted Syria’s cultural, historical, commercial and strategic importance to Turkey.

Fidan argued that the path Syria took after the Arab Spring stemmed from a “repressive minority regime” centred on President Bashar al-Assad, adding that the international community – particularly Western countries – initially supported that trajectory.

“Turkey stood with the oppressed people,” he said. “We had to stand on the right side of history, morally and logically.”

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