Erdogan “Hopes” Syria Will Achieve the “Peace It Has Dreamed of”

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his “hope” that Syria would achieve “the peace it has dreamed of for thirteen years,” coinciding with opposition factions announcing they were nearing the capital, Damascus, and beginning the phase of “encircling” it.

In a speech, Erdogan said: “Our hope is that our neighbor Syria will find the peace and calm it has dreamed of for thirteen years,” emphasizing that Syria “is tired of war, blood, and tears,” according to Agence France-Presse.

He added, “We have never and will never seek to seize an inch of any country’s land, and we have made every effort to maintain Syria’s unity.”

Erdogan pointed out that “the sacrifices of the Syrian people have been immense, and Turkey cannot ignore the developments taking place in Syria.”

On November 27, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allied factions launched a swift attack from their stronghold in Idlib (northwest) towards areas controlled by the Syrian army. On Thursday, they took control of the city of Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, following days of control over Aleppo, which had completely fallen from Syrian army control for the first time since the conflict began in 2011.