Syrian delegation walks out of Arab League summit as Turkish FM begins speaking

The Syrian delegation attending the 162nd session of the Arab League's Council of Foreign Ministers, on Tuesday, withdrew once Turkey's foreign minister began speaking.

Videos shared online showed the Syrian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, leaving the hall when his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan began his speech.

The delegation reportedly left the meeting room and only returned after Fidan had finished his remarks.

Turkey was invited to attend a summit by the league's Council of Foreign Ministers in Cairo, marking its first participation in 13 years.

Despite the walkout, diplomatic sources said Syria did not object to Turkey’s participation during the invitation process.

The Turkish government severed ties with Syria shortly after the civil war erupted there in 2011, and Ankara has long supported rebel and Islamist groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Turkey also maintains a military presence in northern Syria, saying it was essential due to the presence of Kurdish militant groups which Ankara classifies as terrorists.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to normalise relations with Assad, similar to what several Arab states have done in recent years.

Erdogan in July said he was willing to meet with his Syrian counterpart. He recently suggested forging an Islamic alliance to confront Israel, saying that recent steps his country has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at "forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of [Israeli] expansionism."

But Assad has refused to fix ties before Turkish forces completely pull out of Syria.

These were echoed by Syria’s top diplomat, Mekdad, who said one of the main conditions for achieving Turkish-Syrian rapprochement was if Turkey withdrew its troops from northern Syria as well as parts of Iraq, where Kurdish militants also operate.

Turkey in recent weeks has put pressure on Syrian opposition factions it supports not to do anything to obstruct normalisation ties with Assad’s regime, who – with the crucial backing of Russia and Iran – managed to regain control of much of the war-torn country.