MOSCOW: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will not hold meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Moscow next month, sources said on Wednesday.
Earlier, a newspaper reported that Erdogan will meet Bashar Assad in Moscow next month. Turkiye’s Daily Sabah quoted source as saying that such a meeting could take place in August in Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin as a mediator.
However, diplomatic source said that there was no proposal for an Erdogan-Assad meeting in August in Russia.
Ankara has long been one of the main supporters of Assad’s rivals in the Syrian civil war which started in 2011, while Moscow is one of Assad’s main battleground allies, having helped him restore control on most parts of Syria.
Damascus has restored diplomatic ties with some Arab countries that were severed during the war, but Syria remains at odds with Turkiye, which still protects some anti-Assad elements in northwest area of Syria.
Earlier, President Erdogan said he would extend an invitation to President Assad “any time” for possible talks to restore ties, and President Putin could help facilitate the contact. However, Syrian President said he would meet President Erdogan only if they could focus on core problems including a pullout of Turkish troops from Syrian territory.
Asked regarding the report of a potential meeting in Moscow between Erdogan and Assad, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not confirm any specific plans but only said Moscow would like to see improved ties between the two sides.
