Turkey convinced Russia and Iran not to intervene in Syria during the rebel offensive that led to the fall of President Bashar Assad, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, quoted by Agence France-Presse and BTA.
"The most important thing we had to do was talk to the Russians and the Iranians and make sure that they would not bring a military aspect into the equation. We talked to the Russians and the Iranians and they understood," Fidan said in an interview broadcast live by the Turkish private television NTV.
"In order to minimize human casualties here, we tried to achieve this without bloodshed by conducting targeted negotiations with two main factors capable of using force," he continued.
If Bashar al-Assad had received the support of Russia and Iran, there was a risk that "the victory of the opposition ... would take a long time and be bloody," the head of Turkish diplomacy noted.
"However, the Russians and the Iranians saw that this no longer made sense. The person they invested in is not a person in whom to invest. "In addition, the conditions in the region, as well as those around the world, are not the same," he added.
After an 11-day offensive, the rebel coalition led by the Islamist group "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham" toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, who, according to Russian authorities, is in Russia with his family. As a long-time supporter of rebel groups in Syria, Turkey welcomed Bashar al-Assad's departure, AFP recalls.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised help for the reconstruction of Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"Europe will also help with the reconstruction," Scholz said in a video posted on the social platform "Ex" last night.
After years of suffering due to civil war, Syrians deserve a life of freedom and security, the chancellor said. The country's new leaders must guarantee this, he added.
"We will work with them on that basis," Scholz said.
He also said that Syrians who have "integrated" in Germany are "welcome" to remain in his country, noted Agence France-Presse.
The leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, who is considered a favorite to be the next Chancellor of Germany, wants stricter control of the borders of the European Union to prevent the entry into the EU of associates of the ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
"Now we, the Europeans, must together quickly ensure that the supporters of the Assad regime, from the second and third tiers of the old government, do not enter Europe, and in particular Germany, unnoticed, as asylum seekers,", said the candidate for Chancellor in an interview published yesterday for the German newspaper "Rheinische Post".
He stressed that the EU must now control its external borders very strictly, and insisted on the return of people from the German border. "We need a stricter entry regime, which we can tighten even more after the elections", Merz told the publication, quoted by DPA.
The elections in Germany are expected to be held on February 23 next year.
"There will be many Syrians who will want to voluntarily, of their own free will, return to their homeland. Also, many will want to stay in Germany because they work here and are already German citizens," the opposition leader added.