The Duran Podcast
Turkey-Syria talks may unlock new trade corridors
All right, Alexander, let's talk about Erdogan and Syria and possibly some some negotiations between Syria and Turkey. Every every three to six months, we kind of revisit this topic of Syria and specifically Turkey in talks with Syria. And we might just finally be getting to that point where Turkey and Syria do sit down and resolve what what has been a very difficult 10, 15 years between the two countries. And the resolution between Erdogan and Assad between Turkey and Syria could could mean that the US presence in in Syria would would be forced to to come into an end. What are your thoughts? Absolutely. Now, what I think has changed is this. And I think the reason why we might be close to breakthroughs this. And Erdogan has been trying to get a summit meeting with Assad for a very long time. And it's it's important to say that he's Erdogan who's been wanting it. It's Assad who has been resisting this. And the reason our scientists been resisting it is because he wants the Turks to commit to withdrawing completely from Syria. And Erdogan has sort of come round to accepting that that is what must happen that, you know, Turkish troops must withdraw from Italy region those sort of places. But at the same time, he doesn't want to seem like he's been pushed into doing it by Assad. Now, Erdogan understands, and it's Erdogan, as I said, who wants this summit meeting who wants to resolve these issues, Erdogan now understands that something has to give. Instead of trying to extend proposals to Syria bilaterally, he's now asked the Russians for help. And of course, the Russians do have great influence in Syria. And I think the Russians will tell Assad, look, the time has come. You've got Erdogan basically where he wants him. You can see that, by the way, by the way, from the way in which Erdogan is not talking about Assad, he's talking about how once upon a time, he and Assad used to meet the friendly relations between their families and their countries, and the importance of getting back to that position. I mean, that's a pretty extreme row back from Erdogan. If you remember the kind of things that he used to say about Assad and the lengths he went to try to overthrow Assad, so it's a pretty big, big shift. So the Russians will say, look, Erdogan is clearly very contrite. You need to do this with Erdogan, whilst he's still there, because you never know what the next Turkish leader might want to do. So there's that reason. But also, there are a lot of pressures on you as well. The American sanctions have been very tough. That's affected your political popularity within Syria. You obviously control most of Syrian territory, but you need to get the Americans out. In order to get the Americans out, you need the Turks to help you. If you agree to meet Erdogan, now the Turkish troops will withdraw, and you will basically come out the winner of the war. You'll be able to get the Americans out, because it's not just Turkey that is now signaling that it wants to come on board. What we're negotiating is a bigger summit meeting in which Turkey and Syria will be present. We Russia will be there also. Iran, of course, will also be there. But importantly, Iraq will be there too. And the Iraqis are an important player, because in order to get to Syria, to Eastern Syria, where the Americans are, they have to go via Iraq. So if the Iraqis also say this territory should be returned to the authority of the Syrian government, then the Americans in Eastern Syria are isolated. So you've played your cards. This is what the Russians are going to say to Assad. You've played your cards with great skill. Now is the moment to pull it all in, now that you've won the game, you take the winnings, and you finish the game, and you make up. And I think Assad will listen. Yeah, I wonder how much of a factor the new Iranian president plays in all of this, because from what I understand, he's very much in favor of very close relations with Turkey, Iran, and Turkey, the new Iranian president. So it does seem like everything is coming together in the region so that Syria can move to becoming whole. The U.S. is moved out of this base. And you're going to have some, I mean, balance harmony in the region. Iran, Turkey, Syria, Iraq. But I don't know. Is that the right word to use? I think you're absolutely right. And I think the Russian, the new Iranian president is absolutely a factor in this. He is partly from Azerbaijan, and apparently he speaks Turkish. And he's been a very strong advocate for a very long time, for a close relationship between Turkey and Iran. A lot of people have seized on a couple of statements. He's variously made about how Iran ought to aim for better relations with the United States. Many Iranian officials have said that. This is actually boilerplate stuff coming from a certain type of Iranian politician. Much more energy. He's shown much more energy in the past in seeking close relations with Turkey. And he's already been giving interviews, by the way, to the Russian media, in which he says, look, absolutely the priority will be now that we're members of the bricks to develop that and to forge even closer relations with you and with the Saudis and with everybody else. So, absolutely. He is a friend and a powerful friend that Turkey now has in Tehran. So, the other one, if he puts his pride to one side, which he has done, actually, on the Syrian issue, he actually comes out in quite a strong position. Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia. It's a harmonious team and MBS sent a very, very friendly message to the new Iranian president following his election. And he's clearly indicating, too, on behalf of the Saudis, that the Saudis also want this war in Syria to be brought to an end over the Americans to go. Yeah, it's a huge change of position for Turkey, for Saudi Arabia, when it comes to Syria. But the interesting part about this is the conflict in Syria. Much of it was because of the United States wanting to get some sort of gas pipeline or trade moving through Syria. And they wanted to remove Assad, so they can remove Assad, remove Russia, so that they can then get their trade moving through Syria and into Europe. Now it looks like you're going to have the reverse situation because this harmonious conglomeration of leaders and countries that's developing in the region is also going to lead the way to the trade, the north-south corridors, and the trade coming from Russia downwards. Instead of it going upwards into Europe, it now looks like we're going to go from top to bottom. I mean, everything's kind of flipped. And the trade, this north-south trade corridors that are being, that are being planned and being built, this is a huge deal. It's a huge deal. And of course, Syria could be a lynchpin in it. This is what, again, the Russians will be telling to Assad what you need to do is to get the Americans out so that Chinese investment and our investment and Saudi investment can start to flow back into Syria, again, resolving your economic problems and basically ending them. And in order to get the Americans out, you need Erdogan's help. If you sort things out with Erdogan and with the Iraqis, and this is a good moment to do it with Erdogan looking for an end to this problem, Iran with a pro-Turkish president. It's a good moment to do it. We can move forward, sort out all of these problems. You stabilize the situation. You come out the absolute winner in the Syrian war. Yeah, agreed. All right. We will end it there, the durand.locals.com. We are on rumble odyssey, but you tell the grand rock fin and twitter X and go to the durand shop. Pick up some limited edition merch, the links are in the description box down below. Take care. [Music]