Assad Welcomes New Russian Bases In Syria, Demands Turkish Withdrawal

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on March 15. Source: the Syrian Presidency Office.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the RIA Novosti news agency in an interview that was published on March 16 that he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases in his country, suggesting that Moscow’s military presence there should become permanent.

Russia has been maintaining a large military presence in Syria since 2015. Moscow played a key role in the fight against rebels and terrorist groups trying to topple Assad’s government, and backed Damascus against Western states at the United Nations on numerous occasions.

Assad arrived in the Russian capital on March 14, in his first extended visit to the allied country since the outbreak of the war in Syria more than a decade ago.

The president said that he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases and boost Russian troop numbers in Syria.

“We think that expanding the Russian presence in Syria is a good thing,” al-Assad told the Russian news agency. “Russia’s military presence in any country should not be based on anything temporary.”

“We believe that if Russia has the desire to expand bases or increase their number, it is a technical or logistical issue.”

In a separate interview with the Russian Sputnik networks, Assad stated that he would not meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan until Ankara’s “illegal occupation” of Syrian territory was over.

Russia has been sponsoring the Turkish-Syrian normalization process for a while now. Very recently, Iran joined the efforts.

“This is linked to arriving at a stage Turkey would clearly be ready and without any ambiguity to exit completely from Syrian territory and end its support of terrorism and restore the situation that prevailed before the start of the war on Syria,” al-Assad said.

“This is the only situation when it would then be possible to have a meeting between me and Erdogan. Aside from that, what’s the value of such a meeting and why would we do it if it would not achieve final results for the war in Syria,” he added.

Assad held extensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 15. The two leaders discussed political issues, economic relations and the humanitarian situation in Syria after the devastating February 6 earthquakes. The foreign and defense ministers of Syria and Russia held similar meetings.

The remarks made Assad indicate that while Syria is enthusiastic to boost cooperation with Russia, it is not in a hurry to reach an agreement with Turkey. Ankara will not likely agree to a full withdrawal from the country any time soon.

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