Turkish President in Syria, US uneasy

Turkey, which has seen a big thaw in ties with Syria after years of tension, stayed relatively quiet as the US and the European Union piled pressure on Damascus to withdraw. “The importance of the continuation of efforts toward preserving the Lebanese stability and national unity has been emphasised,” Sezer said after official talks with President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria agreed to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon after many Lebanese blamed it for the February assassination of a former prime minister. Syria denies any role.

The US Ambassador in Ankara, Eric Edelman, then publicly urged Turkey to join the “international consensus” on Syria, in comments interpreted by the Turkish media as a call to Sezer to cancel or postpone his visit to Damascus. Sezer has been careful in the run-up to the visit to stress the importance of Turkey-US ties — already strained by the Iraq war and its aftermath — and Turkish media said the President would deliver a strong message to his Syrian hosts.

Assad has publicly hailed Sezer’s decision to go ahead with his trip as evidence that NATO member Turkey is ready to stand up to the US on issues of national interest.

Syrian Prime Minister Naji Al-Otari said Sezer’s “insistence on this visit” embodied Turkish support for “just causes”.

Assad and Sezer said they were in agreement on the preservation of the territorial and national unity of their mutual neighbour Iraq. “Views were identical between our two countries on the importance of (Iraq’s) sovereignty and the preservation of its integrity both in terms of land and people,” said Assad. —Reuters