Top diplomats urge respect for minorities in Syria at Aqaba conference

Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union, and Arab nations have agreed that a new government in Syria should respect minority rights, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday following talks in Aqaba, Jordan, and direct contacts with the rebels who ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

The meetings occurred as regional and global powers scramble for influence over whatever government replaces Assad, who was forced to flee a week ago.

Israel continued over the weekend to strike at Syrian army targets, according to Syrian reports. The strikes were reportedly carried out to prevent the possibility of weapons systems falling into the hands of rebels or Hezbollah.

Blinken said at a news conference that the rebels had agreed on a joint communique that also calls for an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer “a base for terrorist groups.”

“Today’s agreement sends a unified message to the new interim authority and parties in Syria on the principles crucial to securing much-needed support and recognition,” he said.

The secretary of state also said US officials had now had “direct contact” with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and had urged them and other rebel groups to assist with locating US journalist Austin Tice, who was detained in Syria in 2012. The US has also shared with actors in Syria what it wants to see from the country’s transition, he added.

Syrian rebel leader and head of HTS Abu Mohammed al-Julani addressed Syria’s future, saying in an interview with opposition TV channel Syria.tv that “Israel’s excuses for entering Syria no longer exist. After the Iranians’ departure, there are no more justifications for any foreign intervention in Syria.”

In addition, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan on Saturday demanded that Israel pull out of the demilitarized zone along the border with Syria. Israel insists it must stay there to protect its border after the fall of Assad.

Jordan was hosting Saturday’s gathering in Aqaba. Russia and Iran, who were Assad’s key supporters, were not invited.

Blinken, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar met around a circular table at a Jordanian government guest house. There was no Syrian representative at the table.

Arab diplomats call for peaceful, inclusive political transition 

The Arab diplomats earlier met separately and issued a statement calling for a peaceful and inclusive political transition that leads towards elections and a new constitution.

Arab diplomats attending the talks told Reuters they were seeking assurances from Turkey that it supported this, as well as preventing the partition of Syria on sectarian lines.

Turkey and the United States, both NATO members, have conflicting interests when it comes to some of the rebels. Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF, which controls some of Syria’s largest oil fields, is the main ally in a US coalition against Islamic State terrorists. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought the Turkish state for 40 years and which it outlaws.

Blinken told Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday that ISIS must not be able to regroup, and the SDF must not be distracted from its role of securing camps holding Islamic State fighters, according to a US official. Turkish leaders agreed, the official with the American delegation said.

Fidan told Turkish TV later on Friday that the elimination of the YPG was Turkey’s “strategic target” and urged the group’s commanders to leave Syria.