by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's foreign policy in 2025 will prioritize issues related to its geographical proximity, especially concerning Syria and Gaza, experts have said.
"Among the region's key players, Ankara holds the most robust communication channels and a history of collaboration with the group now governing Damascus," Oytun Orhan, senior researcher at Ankara's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, told Xinhua.
He said that 2025 will be "a crucial year for Türkiye's diplomatic efforts in contributing to Syria's stability and reconstruction."
Following the fall of the former Syrian government in December of last year, Ankara said it would continue military activity in northern Syria until Kurdish fighters fully "disarm."
On Jan. 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the "end is near" for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates in Syria, highlighting clearing the Syrian territory from terrorism as one of Türkiye's foreign policy priorities for 2025.
"Türkiye has both capacity and determination to eliminate all threats at their source," he added, mainly referring to the PKK group, which it recognizes as a terrorist organization, and its Syrian branch, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
Since 2016, Turkish forces have carried out several cross-border operations in northern Syria in order to create a YPG-free zone along its border.
"While Türkiye supports the group that currently leads Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), it has long seen Syria's Kurdish forces in the north as an existentialist threat," Orhan noted.
However, Orhan argued that Ankara is not seeking any adventures in Syria despite those threats.
"After over a decade of hosting millions of Syrian refugees and carrying out military operations that have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Ankara seeks a Syria capable of thriving economically and socially," Orhan added.
On Jan. 15, Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan on his first official visit to Türkiye.
According to Türkiye's Communications Directorate, Erdogan said that "Türkiye will support meeting the urgent needs of the brotherly Syrian people and the efforts to rebuild the country," emphasizing the importance of lifting international sanctions on Syria.
Another foreign policy priority for Türkiye this year will be the Gaza conflict, which has caused Turkish-Israeli relations to gradually deteriorate since Oct. 7, 2023.
Batu Coskun, a non-resident fellow at the United Arab Emirates-based TRENDS Research & Advisory, told Xinhua that Türkiye, which has been very vocal in criticizing Israeli military operations in Gaza, is quite interested in contributing to rebuilding the coastal enclave following the recently-reached ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
However, "Türkiye's current position is limited. Türkiye does not exercise the same level of influence in the Gaza conflict" as it does in Syria, due to its deteriorated relations with Israel, said Coskun.
"Türkiye's future role in Gaza would likely be contingent on establishing a relationship with Israel, because Israel will continue to filter and control the Gaza Strip; this is unlikely to change," he said, adding that the Gaza conflict is likely to have aftershocks despite the ceasefire deal.
Ankara may be inclined to engage in a potential detente with Israel under the auspices of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, so as to participate in humanitarian and reconstruction operations in Gaza, Coskun predicted.
"Both Israel and Türkiye are key U.S. allies. I believe that Trump will strongly push for a rapprochement between these two governments," he said. ■