By Simon Louis (Joe:) and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Aqaba, Jordan (Reuters) – Senior diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries agreed that the new government in Syria must respect the rights of minorities, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday after talks in Jordan and direct guidance. Contacts with the rebels who overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.
The meetings were held as regional and global powers scrambled to influence any government to replace Assad, who was forced to flee a week ago.
Blinken said in a press conference that the group agreed on a joint statement that also calls for the formation of an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of minorities and does not provide a “base for terrorist groups.”
The joint statement also affirmed “full support for Syria’s unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” a comment that appeared to target Israel, which has moved into Syria outside the previously agreed-upon buffer zone since the fall of Assad.
“Today’s agreement sends a unified message to the new interim authority and the parties in Syria on the principles critical to securing much-needed support and recognition,” Blinken said.
Blinken also said that US officials now have “direct contact” with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and urged them and other rebel groups to help locate American journalist Austin Tice, who was arrested in Syria in 2012. The US also added that it has engaged with actors in What Syria wants to see from the transitional phase in the country.
Jordan, Syria's neighbor, will host the meeting on Saturday in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, Assad's main backers, were not invited.
Blinken, UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, EU Foreign Policy Coordinator Kaja Kallas, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table in one of Jordan's government guesthouses. There was no Syrian representative at the table.
Arab diplomats met separately earlier and issued a statement calling for a peaceful and comprehensive political transition leading to elections and a new constitution.
Arab diplomats who attended the talks told Reuters that they were seeking assurances from Türkiye that it supports this, as well as preventing the division of Syria along sectarian lines.
Turkey and the United States, both members of NATO, have conflicting interests when it comes to some rebels. Clashes have broken out between Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, which control some of Syria's largest oil fields, are the main ally in the US coalition against ISIS. It is led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, a group that Ankara considers an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters who have been fighting the Turkish state for 40 years and which Türkiye bans.
Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that ISIS should not be able to regroup, and the SDF should not be distracted from its role in securing camps holding the group's fighters, according to a US official. The official in the American delegation said that the Turkish leaders agreed to this.
Fidan told Turkish television later on Friday that eliminating the YPG was Turkey's “strategic goal” and urged the group's leaders to leave Syria.
