Assad States Conditions for Meeting with Erdogan

The President of Syria, Bashar Assad, has announced that he is willing to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, if the meeting serves Syria's national interests. 'If the meeting corresponds to the interests of the country, then I will hold it,' Assad stated in response to journalists' questions regarding the possibility of a meeting with Erdogan.

The video of his remarks was released by the Syrian leader's office. Earlier, Erdogan had announced that Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is working on a roadmap to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus, as well as facilitating negotiations between the leaders of Turkey and Syria. Erdogan indicated that Fidan is authorized to organize a meeting with Assad, potentially in a third country.

In response, Syria's Foreign Ministry stated that the normalization of relations between Syria and Turkey should be based on restoring the situation that existed before 2011. Erdogan had previously mentioned that there is no reason for the absence of diplomatic relations between the countries, asserting that Ankara has no intention of interfering in Damascus' internal affairs.