Foreign Minister Fidan: Turkey was not part of the process of overthrowing Assad.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, stated in an interview with the Saudi Arabia-based Al Hades channel, "Israel has never wanted Assad to leave," and added, "Assad had withdrawn, watching Iran and Israel fight on his own territory."

MINISTER FIDAN'S STRIKING INTERVIEW

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan gave an interview to the Saudi Arabia-based Al Hades channel. Speaking about the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, Minister Fidan used striking expressions. Minister Fidan said: "After a 13-14 year period of intense suffering in Syria, we have entered a new era. As you know, Turkey has a 911-kilometer border with Syria, and our populations are related. Our ties have been intertwined with history, geography, culture, and faith; we have become like flesh and nail."

"MILLIONS OF SYRIANS CONSIDERED TURKEY THEIR HOMELAND"

Therefore, when this troubled period in Syria began, the Syrian opposition in the north leaned on Turkey, and especially millions of displaced refugees considered Turkey their homeland, their home; we opened our arms to them. Of course, it was important for the Syrian opposition to find ground and work in Turkey. Turkey worked hard for the Syrian opposition to constructively solve the problem. The Astana Process was extraordinarily important in this regard, but unfortunately, the Assad regime, for various reasons that we may discuss later, never approached this solution and was caught in a dilemma: either he would share power with his own people and make peace with them, or he would share power with the hegemonic forces coming from outside, the forces that defended him against his own people.

"THE SYSTEM COLLAPSED ON ITS OWN"

Of course, when he shared this power with Russia and Iran, they fought together, and they could not make the decisions they wanted. Because each country had different interests, and at a certain point, Assad failed to make peace with his people, to bring back millions of people, to provide services to the people currently in Syria, to deliver basic services, and to succeed in the economy, so the system collapsed on its own."

"TURKEY WAS NEVER A PART OF SUCH A PROCESS"

In response to a question about Turkey's role in the process of overthrowing the Assad regime, Minister Fidan said, "Turkey was never a part of such a process. After the operation began, we made intense efforts to ensure that it was carried out in the least bloody, least problematic, and least costly way by HTS and other opposition groups, but before that, we did not come together with any country or group to plan and work on such a thing."

"TURKEY ALWAYS BROUGHT THE OPPOSITION'S VIEWS TO THE TABLE"

Regarding Turkey's discussions with Russia and Iran on Syria, Minister Fidan stated: "Throughout the Astana Process and other processes related to Syria, Russia, Turkey, and Iran were in a very intense and regular dialogue to maintain the ceasefire on the ground and to resolve issues. Turkey always brought the opposition's views to the table, while Iran and Russia brought the regime's views; we took this to a certain point. We have a relationship based on mutual respect with them, we know each other, and when the process started, we talked with them.

There is no point in repeating the same scenario from 2006, 2016, or 2015. Bashar Assad, unfortunately, you came to his aid, helped repel the opposition, but he has not been able to show success in serving his people, restoring the system, or making peace with his people, which is why we are facing such a situation today. From what I understand, both Russia's and Iran's evaluations and analyses certainly showed them a result. However, I believe that Turkey, as an important element in the region and a significant friend of the opposition, speaking constructively with them on certain issues to manage this process is very effective, and we will continue to talk with them in the future."

In response to a question about who was seeking Assad's departure from the country, Minister Fidan said, "Now, I know directly that our counterparts have a certain traffic theme with Damascus; they told us that day. But I have no information on who directly spoke with him at what level. But what I know is that the message was conveyed."

"WE HAVE NO ROLE IN ASSAD'S ESCAPE"

When asked about claims that Turkey facilitated Assad's escape from Syria, Minister Fidan stated, "No, that is absolutely not true. This is not something we would do either. The Russians announced this themselves; they organized and carried it out. We have no role in this matter."

MIT PRESIDENT KALIN'S VISIT TO SYRIA

Regarding the visit of the President of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ibrahim Kalın, to the Syrian capital Damascus on December 12, Minister Fidan said, "As you know, before sending Ibrahim Bey, we had extensive consultations with both regional countries and Western countries. How should the new administration in Damascus communicate with both regional countries and world countries? Through our contacts, we saw a general perception and demand there, and there were certain principles that everyone more or less agreed upon. These included that terrorist organizations should not benefit from Damascus in the new era, and that minorities should be treated well, especially Christians, Kurds, Alawites, and Turkmen. Later, there were various views formed, such as the establishment of an inclusive government and not being a threat to neighbors. Ibrahim Bey conveyed these views to the international community, the region, and of course our views to the other side. After receiving their data, as you know, there was a very important meeting in Aqaba Bay, Jordan, on Saturday. We went there and held discussions that formed the basis for the decisions we would take."