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Assad sets conditions for meeting with Turkiye’s Erdogan

July 16, 2024 at 8:01 pm

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, seen during the Signing of the comprehensive program of strategic and long-term cooperation between Iran and Syria, On May 03, 2023 In Damascus, Syria [Borna News/Getty Images]

Syria’s President, Bashar Al-Assad, said he would only meet Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, if the two countries could focus on the core issues of Ankara’s support for “terrorism” and the pullout of Turkish forces from Syrian territory, Reuters reports.

“The problem is not the meeting, but its content,” a video clip released by the presidency showed Assad telling reporters in Damascus.

Turkiye cut diplomatic ties with Syria in 2011 following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, during which Turkiye supported rebel factions seeking to overthrow Assad. Assad regards these rebels as terrorists.

READ: Turkiye FM expresses hope for Syria to embrace Turkiye’s call for normalisation