In the revelation that her government Turkey knew about the plan of the rebels in Syriawhich were aimed at overthrowing Bashar al-Assad, reports Reuters today, Monday (09.12.24), citing information from two sources.
Rebels in Syria informed Turkey six months ago of their intention to launch the attack, the news agency reported, citing a “diplomat in the region” and a member of the anti-regime rebels.
In fact, the Syrian source told Reuters that the rebels “had shown Ankara details of the plan”, even urging Turkey not to interfere with the attack.
The message was: “That other road hasn’t worked for years – so try ours. You don’t need to do anything, just don’t intervene,” they reportedly said to Ankara.
After communicating the plan, the fighters “they felt they had received her tacit approval” (of Turkey), the sources noted.
“There was no way” the rebels “would advance without first notifying Turkey,” a source added to Reuters.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidanspeaking in Doha on Sunday, said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts in recent months to reach out to Bashar al-Assad had failed and Turkey “he knew something was coming.”
The comments came a day after rebels stormed the Syrian capital. Damascus, after making significant territorial gains in the north of the Arab country about two weeks after the resurgence of hostilities.