Russia offers to mediate a meeting between Turkish and Syrian presidents
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that Moscow offered to mediate for a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
On Tuesday, Kalin told Turkish channel 24 TV, “There is no political ground for a meeting between Erdogan and Assad at the moment, but Ankara doesn’t close the door to diplomacy,” adding that Russia offered to mediate and facilitate a meeting between the two leaders.
The Turkish spokesman added that President Erdogan isn’t enthusiastic about such a meeting so far.
ON Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed in a television interview that “Russia isn’t pressuring us to meet Assad, but rather offers friendly proposals in this regard,” explaining that “a meeting between Erdogan and Assad is not at this stage”.
Confusion surrounded the Turkish minister’s statements regarding reconciliation between Syria and the Syrian opposition, as Cavusoglu saw, last August that his recent statements were misinterpreted.
In the aftermath, Syrians took part in demonstrations in the areas controlled by the armed factions in northern and northwestern Syria, denouncing Cavusoglu’s statements, in which he stressed that “we have to make the regime and the opposition reconcile in Syria, otherwise there will be no lasting peace”.
Weeks ago, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad confirmed that there are currently no negotiations regarding the normalization of relations between Syria and Türkiye.
