Turkey, Syria sign free-trade accord amid warming ties on Erdogan visit (English)

DAMASCUS - AFP
Former foes Turkey and Syria signed a free-trade accord and said they had agreed to put their differences behind them during a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, at the start of a two-day mission, and his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Naji Otri signed the deal, which had been under negotiation for several years.
"Our links will develop in all fields in the future, especially in trade," Otri said at a joint news conference, while Erdogan said it "shows how far relations have come between the two countries".

A Turkish diplomatic source said Damascus lifted its reservations to signing the deal "after a certain accord" was reached on Turkey’s sovereignty in the southern province of Hatay, formerly Alexandretta, on which Syria had claims.

The region was ceded to Turkey in 1939 when Syria was under French mandate, and Ankara says the issue of sovereignty is non-negotiable.
But Otri said "other problems are now forgotten", apparently referring to another key obstacle to a full normalisation in ties: the sharing of the Euphrates River, which has its source in Turkey.

"We are in agreement. We want a comprehensive cooperation in the region," said the Syrian premier, adding that Erdogan had agreed to increase the flow of water into Syria.
Turkey’s position has been that it allows enough flow into Syria but its neighbour has not built enough dams to retain the water.

The free-trade accord is the cornerstone of efforts to boost the newly found friendship between the two former foes, which came to the brink of war only six years ago.
Trade between the two countries amounted to one billion dollars in 2003.
The "new era" in relations began when Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad visited Turkey in January on the first such visit by a Syrian head of state, Erdogan earlier told reporters at Ankara airport.

Erdogan, whose delegation includes three ministers, among them Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen, also met Assad and is to visit the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday before flying back home.

Turkey, a close ally of the United States and Israel, has pushed for closer relations with Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq, despite warnings from Washington to limit its cooperation with Damascus.
Ankara and Damascus share concerns over the Iraqi Kurds’ aspirations for self-rule in a future federated Iraq as they both have sizeable Kurdish communities of their own.

In 1998, the two countries nearly went to war over Ankara’s accusations that Damascus was sheltering separatist Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish government.
Tensions eased when Damascus expelled Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan from his safe haven in Syria and signed a security deal with Ankara, pledging to stop supporting Ocalan’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

As a result, Turkish intelligence operatives arrested Ocalan in Kenya, where he had fled. He was brought back to Turkey for trial and is serving a life sentence for treason.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, war-torn Iraq and the Kurdish question also figured in the Otri-Erdogan talks, officials said.

Turkey and Syria have since the March 2003 invasion of neighbouring Iraq signed a series of economic and security agreements, including one to jointly combat crime and terrorism.

Last year, Syria detained and extradited to Turkey 20 people wanted in connection with suicide-bombings that targeted synagogues and British interests in Istanbul.