Turkish President urges Assad to find political solution to Syria situation urgently
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his counterpart Bashar al Assad on Thursday to find a political solution to the situation in Syria urgently, amid rapid developments on the ground and the fall of the city of Hama to the armed opposition, which had seized the city of Aleppo a few days ago.
“The Syrian regime must urgently engage with its people in order to reach a comprehensive political solution,” Erdogan said during a phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
The Turkish presidency added that “President Erdogan stressed that Türkiye is working to reduce tension, protect civilians, and open the door to a political path, and will continue to do so,” stressing that “the Syrian conflict has reached a new stage”.
The statement also said, “Türkiye’s greatest wish is that Syria doesn’t sink into further instability and doesn’t witness more civilian casualties”.
On Monday, in his first comment on the situation in Syria, Erdogan said that his country would take the necessary measures to not harm our national security.
He stressed that his country’s position, the sensitivity of its position and its basic priorities in the Syrian conflict are clear, so our priority is to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria and end the state of instability that has continued for 13 years, by consensus.
