01:06Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey has no interest in ‘interfering in Syria's internal affairs’, adding that a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ‘will happen again’, in a statement to reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.
Erdogan also clarified that he sees ‘no reason’ not to re-establish Turkish-Syrian relations, pointing out that Ankara will work with Syria ‘to develop these relations in the same way as we have done in the past.’
Asked about his previous meeting with Assad, he replied: “We have held these talks with Mr Assad, even up to family meetings”, adding that “the Syrian people are a community that we live together as brotherly peoples.”
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on the Syrian government to take advantage of the current state of ‘calm’ to resolve constitutional issues and achieve peace with its opponents, adding that Turkey did not see the Syrian regime ‘taking advantage of this enough’.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during a meeting with Russian Presidential Special Envoy Alexander Lavrentiev that Syria is open to ‘all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Turkey that are based on the sovereignty of the Syrian state over its entire territory and the fight against all forms of terrorism’.
Relations between Syria and Turkey deteriorated after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with Erdogan calling for Assad to be overthrown and Turkey supporting the armed Syrian opposition. Turkey has taken in more than three million Syrian refugees displaced during the country’s civil war. In August 2016, the Turkish army entered areas in northern Syria to confront ISIS and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
'No interest in interfering in internal affairs' - Erdogan on rebuilding relations with Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey has no interest in ‘interfering in Syria's internal affairs’, adding that a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ‘will happen again’, in a statement to reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.
Erdogan also clarified that he sees ‘no reason’ not to re-establish Turkish-Syrian relations, pointing out that Ankara will work with Syria ‘to develop these relations in the same way as we have done in the past.’
Asked about his previous meeting with Assad, he replied: “We have held these talks with Mr Assad, even up to family meetings”, adding that “the Syrian people are a community that we live together as brotherly peoples.”
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on the Syrian government to take advantage of the current state of ‘calm’ to resolve constitutional issues and achieve peace with its opponents, adding that Turkey did not see the Syrian regime ‘taking advantage of this enough’.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during a meeting with Russian Presidential Special Envoy Alexander Lavrentiev that Syria is open to ‘all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Turkey that are based on the sovereignty of the Syrian state over its entire territory and the fight against all forms of terrorism’.
Relations between Syria and Turkey deteriorated after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with Erdogan calling for Assad to be overthrown and Turkey supporting the armed Syrian opposition. Turkey has taken in more than three million Syrian refugees displaced during the country’s civil war. In August 2016, the Turkish army entered areas in northern Syria to confront ISIS and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey has no interest in ‘interfering in Syria's internal affairs’, adding that a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ‘will happen again’, in a statement to reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.
Erdogan also clarified that he sees ‘no reason’ not to re-establish Turkish-Syrian relations, pointing out that Ankara will work with Syria ‘to develop these relations in the same way as we have done in the past.’
Asked about his previous meeting with Assad, he replied: “We have held these talks with Mr Assad, even up to family meetings”, adding that “the Syrian people are a community that we live together as brotherly peoples.”
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on the Syrian government to take advantage of the current state of ‘calm’ to resolve constitutional issues and achieve peace with its opponents, adding that Turkey did not see the Syrian regime ‘taking advantage of this enough’.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during a meeting with Russian Presidential Special Envoy Alexander Lavrentiev that Syria is open to ‘all initiatives related to the relationship between Syria and Turkey that are based on the sovereignty of the Syrian state over its entire territory and the fight against all forms of terrorism’.
Relations between Syria and Turkey deteriorated after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, with Erdogan calling for Assad to be overthrown and Turkey supporting the armed Syrian opposition. Turkey has taken in more than three million Syrian refugees displaced during the country’s civil war. In August 2016, the Turkish army entered areas in northern Syria to confront ISIS and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).