Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Monday that the ongoing situation in Syria cannot simply be attributed to external factors, emphasizing that it is rooted in unresolved domestic challenges over the past 13 years.

“Recent developments once again show that the Syrian regime must reconcile with its own people and the legitimate opposition,” Fidan stated during a press conference alongside his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, who is on an official visit to Türkiye.

The foreign minister expressed Ankara’s desire to prevent further escalation of the Syrian civil war, which has devastated the country since 2011. Fidan’s remarks came as clashes between Assad regime forces and anti-regime armed groups erupted on Nov. 27 in the western countryside of Aleppo, breaking a period of relative calm.