Turkey is holding covert contacts with Syria's government to avert direct c...
ANKARA - Turkey is holding covert contacts with Syria’s government to avert direct conflict in northeast Syria where both sides have deployed their armies, Turkish officials say, despite Ankara’s long-standing hostility to President Bashar al-Assad.
Warily, the two sides have set up channels of communication, both direct military and intelligence contacts and indirect messages through Russia, to reduce the risk of confrontation, three Turkish officials say. While the Turkish government insists that it has not changed its stance toward Assad, the security contacts with Damascus reflect a growing reality that it cannot ignore the Syrian president’s steady restoration of control over his country.
The Turkish offensive, currently halted for a 120-hour pause which expires late on Tuesday, has focused on two Syrian border towns of Tel Abyad and Ras al Ain, which lie roughly in the middle of the border strip Turkey is targeting.
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