Erdogan 'dispatches' his chief of National Intelligence to Damascus ...

The strategic polygon's watchful eye.

"Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he spoke to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad twice in the past few days to discuss prospects for reform in his country, insisting that Turkey cannot remain indifferent to what is going on in the neighboring country....

Erdoğan told reporters that he dispatched National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan to the Arab country to follow the developments, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also closely monitoring the events there....

In remarks published by Japan’s Nikkei newspaper on Monday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey and Syria maintain deep economic relations and that, using its leverage, Turkey will encourage Syria to make political reforms. The Turkish foreign minister urged Syrian authorities to rapidly implement the reforms to avoid being plunged into tensions like Libya.

Diplomatic sources said Davutoğlu called his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem, on Saturday after Erdoğan’s talk with Assad, assuring the Syrian foreign minister that Turkey will back Syria’s reform steps, the Anatolia news agency reported. A frequently quoted statement defining Turkish-Syrian relations is that these two have written one of the most successful reconciliation stories in modern history, forging a strategic partnership despite having been on the verge of war only a decade ago..."