Reuters reported that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected a proposal to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing sources who also said Damascus “just postponed the matter” and that the meeting could take place.
The agency cited 3 sources, which it described as “familiar with Syria’s position on possible talks”, as saying that Syria is resisting Russian mediation efforts to hold a summit with Erdogan, after more than a decade of bitter hostility. a decade since the beginning of the crisis in Syria.
However, two Turkish sources, one of them a senior official, said that “Damascus is just postponing the issue and that things are moving towards an eventual meeting between the two leaders.”
Erdogan had indicated his readiness for rapprochement with Damascus, and said in statements a week after his meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, last month, that Turkey could “put things on the right track with Syria”.
“There can be no hard feelings in politics,” Erdogan said in a televised debate over the weekend.
In this regard, Reuters quoted three sources as saying that Al-Assad has rejected a proposal to meet Erdogan with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the agency.
