Middle East
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shaking hands with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in Aleppo, Syria, on 6 February 2011. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s foreign minister on Tuesday said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not meet with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Uzbekistan next month, following Iranian media reports suggesting otherwise.
A number of Iranian semi-official media outlets reported on Saturday that Erdogan and Assad are likely to meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in mid-September.
Speaking to Haber Global news outlet on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied the possibility of such a meeting, adding that “Assad has not been even invited there,” referring to SCO.
Ankara-Damascus relations severed a decade ago when the Syrian uprising began, with Turkey accusing the Syrian regime of oppressing its people. Turkish officials have claimed that security and intelligence meetings between both countries have continued but the Syrian government has denied this.
Erdogan said earlier this month that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had asked him to coordinate with the Syrian regime in the fight against terrorism. Russia is the main backer of Assad.
“We say that right now our intelligence agency is already dealing with these issues with the Syrian intelligence, but the whole point is to get results,” said the Turkish president.
Cavusoglu’s recent call for reconciliation between Assad and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition angered the residents of Turkish-held areas in northwest Syria. There were large protests in many areas against the Turkish minister's remarks.
"We have to somehow bring the opposition and the regime in Syria together to reach an agreement. Otherwise, there will be no lasting peace," Cavusoglu said.
Turkey supports Syrian rebel forces which Damascus has labeled terrorists.
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