On Dec. 28, 2022, a tripartite meeting was held in the Russian capital Moscow between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey.

Russian Ministry of Defense said that they [Syria, Russia and Turkey] discussed ways to solve the Syrian crisis, the Syrian refugees’ issue, and the joint efforts to fight extremist groups in Syria.

Amal Dada, Relations officer in the SDC, said the Syrian-Turkish rapprochement aims at fighting the AANES, and that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has focused its policy on fighting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDC is the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). It was founded in 2015 and includes all the communities of north and east Syria.

Dada noted that the Turkish government is now convinced that the shortest and easiest way to achieve its purpose in the Syrian issue is through Russia.

Russia managed to find common ground between the two parties [Syria and Turkey], especially in the work against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and AANES through gaining more leverage by trying to pull the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) card out of the US and the US-led Global Coalition’s hands, according to Dada.

In a previous statement to North Press, Riyad Dirar, co-chair of the SDC, said the tripartite meeting in Moscow threatens the US presence in Syria.

SDC said in a statement following the tripartite meeting it is deeply suspicious of the meeting held between the defense ministers of the Syrian government and Turkey, and it called for the Syrians to come together and unite to continue their project of achieving freedom, dignity, and democracy.

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