Islam Times - Erdogan Says Ready to Meet with Syrian President Assad

Islam Times - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was ready to meet with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, and was waiting for Damascus to respond to Ankara's request.

"We have already expressed our willingness to meet with Bashar Assad to normalize relations between Turkiye and Syria," Erdogan told a press conference ahead of his flight to the United States for the UN General Assembly.

"We are waiting for the Syrian side to answer. We are ready for it… I believe that we will turn over a new leaf in our relations at this meeting," Erdogan added, Sputnik reported.

Relations between Damascus and Ankara soured after a war broke out in Syria in 2011. They stepped up efforts to mend ties in summer, with Assad saying he was ready for a summit with Erdogan if the talks met Syrian national interests.