Turkey did not participate in the operation of the armed opposition in Syria, which led to the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's administration, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated, Ekonomim reports.
"Turkey was not part of such a process. After the start of the operations of the HTS and other opposition groups, we [i.e. Turkey] made intensive efforts to carry it out in the most bloodless, problem-free manner, but we had never joined any country or group before and did not participate in such planning," said the Turkish foreign minister.
Fidan added that he did not meet with the now former president of Syria to discuss the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus, although such attempts were made many times through the mediation of third countries.
"We tried to come, we wanted to, [but] they [i.e. Assad] refused. We even used the countries of the region, particularly Iraq, as mediators. He [Assad] gave a negative answer to everyone," said the Turkish foreign minister.
According to him, Israel never wanted Assad to leave power.
"Israel never wanted Assad to leave. Assad was generally a useful player for it," Fidan said.
