Erdogan said he was ready to meet with Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he is ready to meet with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad and is waiting for a response from the Syrian side to the corresponding proposal.

⠀

“We have already stated our desire to meet with Bashar al-Assad to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria. We expect a response from the Syrian side. We are ready for this… I believe that a new stage in the countries’ relations will begin with this meeting,” Erdogan said at press conference before flying to the United States for the UN General Assembly.

⠀

The Turkish President stressed that the time has come to put an end to the tense situation in Syria.

⠀

“We see that the Syrian leadership has not entered into confrontation with the opposition for some time, this demonstrates that steps have been taken for sustainable peace,” Erdogan explained.

⠀
Recently, information has appeared about a possible meeting between Assad and Erdogan. Thus, the Hürriyet newspaper, citing sources, reported that such a meeting was expected in August in Baghdad. Other media noted that negotiations could take place in Moscow.