Erdogan renews openness to meet Al-Assad, rejects exiting from Syria

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Jul 2023 17:34
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The Turkish President claims he does not oppose talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Anadolu Agency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed on Tuesday his openness to meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad, state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency reported.

"The door is open and we support quadrilateral meetings. I do not oppose talks with Bashar Assad," Erdogan said in a press statement, ahead of the start of his four-day Gulf tour.

"But what matters here is their approach. Assad wants Türkiye out of Northern Syria. This is out of the question. We are fighting terrorism there. How can we leave [Syria] while terrorists are on our immediate borders?" the Turkish leader claimed.

A couple of months ago, the head of the Syrian delegation to Moscow and Assistant Foreign Minister, Ayman Sousan considered that Turkey's official announcement that it would withdraw its forces from all Syrian territory is "the gateway to re-establish communication between the two sides."

A few days ago, former Syrian Ambassador to Turkey, Nidal Kabalan, indicated that Al-Assad would not meet with Erdogan unless an agreement was reached based on conditions set by Damascus, the most important of which is Turkey's withdrawal from Syrian territory.