Bashar al-Assad: We are ready to meet Erdogan and we look forward positively to any initiative aimed at improving relations with Turkey
Bashar al-Assad confirmed on Monday that “he will meet Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, if the meeting serves the country’s interest.
Bashar al-Assad’s statement came during his participation in the “People’s Assembly” elections in which he said: “The problem is not meeting the president Erdogan, but rather the content of the meeting and the aim of it.”
Al-Assad considered the meeting as a method and the method needs rules and work references, and the failure of this method in one of the stages could make us go in a worse direction and pay a higher price.
Al-Assad continued: “What is the basis for this meeting? Would it be ending the reasons for the problem representing by supporting terrorism and pulling out from the Syrian territories? This is the core of the problem, and if there is no discussion about this core, there will be no results.”
According to Bashar al-Assad, “his regime looks forward any initiatives to improve relations with Turkey, and he also expressed his willingness to meet the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
Al-Assad pointed out to the statements of the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, in which he talked about secret meetings between the two sides saying: “There is nothing secret for us in Syria, everything is public, and when there is a meeting, we will announce it.”
Bashar al-Assad claimed that his regime seeks action that achieves results, and is not against any meeting. What is important is reaching results that achieve the interests of Syria and Turkey.”
Turkey has confirmed during the recent period its desire to restore relations with the Assad regime, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his willingness to meet Bashar al-Assad and invite him to visit Turkey or hold the meeting in a third country.
Turkish officials say that the goal of normalizing relations with the Assad regime is to find common solutions for the presence of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, and to return Syrian refugees to their country.
It is noteworthy that the American “Associated Press” agency published a report recently, ruling out a breach in relations between Turkey and the Assad regime due to huge differences between the two sides, stressing that both parties are waiting the results of the US elections to take a decisive decision on this path.
