Speaking on a flight with journalists returning from Euro 2024, President Erdogan also touched on the Syrian issue, which is on the country’s agenda.
advertisement
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul from Germany on July 6 to watch Turkey’s Euro 2024 quarter-final match against the Netherlands.
Journalists also accompanied President Erdogan on his plane trip.
Answering reporters’ questions on the agenda during his visit, President Erdogan also opened the brackets on the topic of Syria on the country’s agenda.
Regarding a possible reunion with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the president said, “As soon as Bashar Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will show the same approach towards him. Yesterday we were not Syria’s enemies, we were meeting with President Assad as a family.”
Erdogan said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani were considering a possible meeting, adding, “We will send out an invitation. Hopefully, with this invitation we want to make Turkey-Syria relations good.” Our invitation is always, “There may be that moment.”
Finally, regarding the anti-refugee events and anti-Turkish actions in northern Syria that began in Kayseri and were seen in many cities across the country, the president said, “There is definitely a mixer. In other words, it is a mixer. It is inconceivable that there is not political mix in these events. How much are they trying to confuse this? We’ll see,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan first said he might meet with Assad after Friday prayers on June 28.
“There is no reason not to restore diplomatic relations with Syria. We can establish diplomatic relations again as we did in the past. We are not going to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs. You know, there is no reason,” Erdogan said. “Until there is a family meeting, why can’t we do it the same way as we did with Assad in the past?” he said.
Turkey has long been the main backer of rebel forces trying to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power and has conducted three major military operations in northern Syria since 2016. Parts of northern Syria are under Turkish military control.
Backed by Russia and Iran, President Assad has managed to turn the tide of the war in his favour in recent years, recapturing large swaths of territory with the help of his allies.
Turkiye-backed rebels currently only control the Idlib region of Syria.
